FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE 


HOLT  SCRIPTURE, 

AND 

THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  IT  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURE 

ITSELF. 

TO  WHICH  ARE  ADDED, 
FOUR  LECTURES  ON  THE  RELATION  BETWEEN  THE 

OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENTS, 

AS  IT  IS  SET  FORTH  IN  THE 

EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 

ALSO, 
A  SINGLE  LECTURE  ON  THE 

NATURAL  EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


BY  WILLIAM  JONES,  M.  A.  F.  R.  S. 

AUTHOR  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  TRINITY,  &.C 


TO  WHICH  IS  PREFIXED, 
A  SHORT  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  LIFE  AND  WRITINGS. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED  BY  HARRISON  HALL,  133,  CHESNUT  STREET. 

JOHN    BIOREN,  PRINTER. 

1818. 


LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 


WILLIAM  JONES  was  the  son  of  Morgan 
Jones,  a  Welsh  gentleman,  descended  from  Colonel 
Jones,  who  married  a  sister  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  and 
was  born  at  Lowick  in  Northamptonshire,  in  the  year 
1726.  He  early  discovered  an  inquisitive  temper,  and 
industry  in  acquiring  knowledge,  and  when  he  was  of 
a  proper  age,  was  admitted  a  scholar  at  the  Charter- 
house, in  London,  where  he  made  a  rapid  progress  in 
the  Latin  and  Greek  languages.  Here  also  he  gave 
indications  of  a  turn  for  philosophical  studies,  and 
copied  some  tables  and  calculations  of  Mr.  Zachary 
Williams,  the  father  of  Dr.  Johnson's  Mrs.  Williams, 
belonging  to  a  magnetical  theory  which  that  gentleman 
had  formed,  but  which  was  never  given  to  the  public. 
When  Mr.  Jones  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  he 
was  entered  of  University  College,  Oxford,  on  a 
Charter-house  exhibition,  and  in  that  seminary  pur- 
sued the  usual  course  of  studies  with  unremitted 
diligence.  He  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of  B.  A. 
in  the  year  1749,  and  soon  afterwards  received  dea- 
con's orders  from  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough.  In 
1751,  he  was  ordained  priest  by  the  Bishop  of  Lin- 

1 


ii  LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 

coin,  and  on  quitting  the  university  became  curate  at 
Finedon,  in  Northamptonshire.  While  he  was  in  this 
situation,  he  published,  in  1753,  his  "  Full  Answer 
to  Bishop  Qeyton's  Essay  on  Spirit,"  or  rather  the 
essay  which  his  lordship  adopted  ;  in  which  he  endeav- 
oured to  support  the  cause  of  orthodoxy  by  an  appeal 
to  the  religion  and  learning  of  heathen  antiquity,  parti- 
cularly the  notions  of  the  Hermetic,  Pythagorean,  and 
Platonic  trinities. 

In  the  year  1 754,  he  formed  a  happy  matrimonial 
connection,  and  went  to  reside  at  Wadenhoe  in  North- 
amptonshire, as  curate  to  his  brother  in  law,  the 
Rev.  Brooke  Bridges.  In  this  place  he  drew  up  and 
published,  in  what  year  we  are  not  informed,  his 
"  Catholic  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity,"  octavo  ;  which 
was  favourably  received  by  the  orthodox  world,  and 
was  enlarged  in  the  third  edition,  which  appeared  in 
1767,  by  a  "  Letter  to  the  common  People,  in  An- 
swer to  some  popular  Arguments  against  the  Trinity." 
Here  also  he  engaged  in  a  course  of  experiments, 
necessary  to  his  composing  a  treatise  on  philosophy, 
in  elucidation  of  his  favourite  system ;  and  met  with 
liberal  friends,  who,  by  a  subscription  among  them- 
selves of  three  hundred  pounds  per  annum  for  three 
years,  enabled  him  to  furnish  himself  with  such  an  ap- 
paratus as  he  wanted.  The  result  of  his  labours  was 
"  An  Essay  on  the  First  Principles  of  Natural  Philo- 
sophy," published  in  1762,  quarto,  intended  to  de- 
monstrate the  use  of  natural  means,  or  second  causes, 
in  the  economy  of  the  material  world,  from  reason,  ex- 
periments, and  the  testimony  of  antiquity.     It  was  de- 


LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR.  m 

signed  as  a  preparatory  work,  to  obviate  the  objections 
against  the  system  for  which  he  was  an  advocate, 
founded  on  the  Newtonian  philosophy ;  and  it  dis- 
played considerable  learning  and  ingenuity,  as  well  as 
an  ardent  attachment  to  the  interests  of  piety  and  vir- 
tue, united  with  the  eccentric  peculiarities  of  the 
Hutchinsonian  school.  The  Earl  of  Bute  was  so  well 
satisfied  with  it,  that  he  desired  the  author  not  to  be 
intimidated  through  fear  of  the  expence  from  pursu- 
ing his  philosophical  studies,  but  to  direct  Mr.  Adams, 
the  mathematical  instrument-maker,  to. supply  him 
with  such  instruments  as  he  might  want,  and  to  place 
them  to  his  lordship's  account. 

In  the  year  1764,  Archbishop  Seeker  presented  Mr. 
Jones  to  the  vicarage  of  Bethersden  in  Kent,  whither  he 
removed  with  his  family;  and  when  he  afterwards  found 
that  the  income  of  his  benefice  was  not  equal  to  what  he 
expected,  in  pursuance  of  the  advice  of  his  friends,  he 
undertook  the  tuition  of  a  few  pupils.  For  such  an  of- 
fice he  was  well  qualified  by  his  skill  in  the  learned 
languages,  his  various  knowledge,  his  great  industry 
and  his  perspicuous  easy  manner  of  communicating  in- 
struction. In  the  year  1765,  Archbishop  Seeker  pre- 
sented Mr.  Jones  to  the  rectory  of  Pluckley,  in  the 
same  county,  where  he  took  up  his  residence,  and  con- 
tinued his  plan  of  education,  pursuing  at  the  same  time 
his  course  of  philosophical  experiments,  as  well  as  the- 
ological studies,  and  discharging  his  pastoral  duties 
with  exemplary  zeal  and  diligence.  In  the  year 
1769,  he  published  a  letter  to  "  A  Young  Gentleman  at 
Oxford,   intended  for  Holy  Orders,  containing  some 


iv  LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 

seasonable  Cautions  against  Errors  in  Doctrine,"  oc- 
tavo ;  consisting  chiefly,  of  the  substance  of  a  visitation 
sermon  preached  before  Archbishop  Seeker  in  1766. 
His  subsequent  publications  during  his  continuance  at 
Pluckley  were,  some  remarks  on  the  principles  and 
spirit  of  "  The  Confessional,"  annexed  to  a  new  edition 
of  his  "  Answer  to  an  Essay  on  Spirit,"  &x.  1770, 
octavo;  "  Zoologia  Ethica  :  a  Disquisition  concerning 
the  Mosaic  Distinction  of  Animals,  clean  and  unclean ; 
being  an  Attempt  to  explain  to  Christians  the  Wisdom, 
Morality,  and  Use  of  that  Institution,  in  two  Parts," 
1772,   octavo  ;  "  Three  Dissertations  on  Life  and 
Death,  1772,  octavo;  a  volume  of  "Disquisitions  on 
some  select  Subjects  of  Scripture,"  which  had  been  be- 
fore separately  printed,  1773,  octavo  ;  and  "  Reflections 
on  the  Growth  of  Heathenism  among  Christians,  in  a 
Letter  to  a  Friend  at  Oxford,  by  a  Presbyter  of  the 
Church   of   England,"    1776,  octavo.      About  this 
time  Mr.  Jones  was  induced  to  move  from  Pluck- 
ley,  and  to  accept  of  the  perpetual  curacy  of  Nay  land 
in  Suffolk.     Soon  afterwards  he  effected  an  exchange 
of  Pluckley  for  the  rectory  of  Paston  in  Northampton- 
shire,  which  he  visited  annually;  but  took   up  his 
abode  at  Nayland,  which  no  future  offer  of  preferment 
tempted  him  to  quit.     In  the  mean  time  he  had  enter- 
ed a  member  of  Sydney  College  in  the  university  of 
Cambridge,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of 
M.  A.     From  the  title  of  his  next  publication,  Mr. 
Jones  appears  to  have  been  admitted  a  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society  ;  but  we  have  no  information  concern- 
ing the  time  when  this  honour  was  conferred  upon 


LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR.  v 

him.  The  work  to  which  we  allude  was  his  "  Phy- 
siological Disquisitions :  or  Discourses  concerning 
the  Natural  Philosophy  of  the  Elements,"  1781,  4to. 
This  performance  contains  discourses  on  matter,  and 
the  several  kinds  of  bodies ;  on  the  nature  and  causes 
of  motion ;  on  the  nature  and  uses  of  the  elements ; 
on  fire,  its  properties  and  effects  ;  on  the  nature  and 
properties  of  air;  on  the  philosophy  of  musical  sounds; 
on  fossil  bodies;  on  physical  geography,  or,  the  natu- 
ral history  of  the  earth  ;  and  on  the  appearances,  causes 
and  prognostic  signs  of  the  weather.  They  contain 
much  instructive,  much  entertaining,  and  much  fanciful 
matter,  ingeniously  applied  in  an  attempt  to  investigate 
the  causes  of  things,  and  to  construct  a  theory  of  na- 
ture on  the  principles  of  the  author's  favourite  system. 
Mr.  Jones's  next  publication  was  theological,  and 
consisted  of  "  Lectures  on  the  Figurative  Language 
of  the  Holy  Scripture,  and  the  Interpretation  of  it  from 
the  Scripture  itself,"  1788,  octavo;  which  contain  a 
mixture  of  judicious  and  valuable  explanations  of 
scripture  metaphors,  with  others  in  which  the  author 
has  given  full  scope  to  his  lively  imagination. 

In  discharging  the  duties  of  his  pastoral  office,  Mr. 
Jones  paid  particular  attention  to  the  young  people  of 
his  parish,  whom  he  instructed  privately  in  his  own 
house  and  publickly  in  the  church,  by  a  course  of 
catechetical  lectures  adapted  to  their  capacities  ;  and 
as  he  was  zealously  attached  to  the  establishment,  of 
which  he  was  a  minister,  he  endeavoured  to  secure 
their  adherence  to  its  communion,  not  only  by  the 
representations  which  he  laid  before  them  of  the  na- 


vi  LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 

ture  of  the  church,  and  the  sinfulness  of  schism,  but 
by  different  small  treatises,  such  as  "  An  Essay  on  the 
Church,"  the  "  Churchman's  Catechism,"  &c.  That 
these  labours  were  not  inefficacious  among  his  pa- 
rishioners, he  had  reason  to  conclude  from  the  increase 
which  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  in  the  number 
of  those  who  attended  at  the  sacrament.  In  the  year 
1790,  our  author  published  two  volumes  of  "  Sermons 
on  moral  and  religious  Subjects,"  octavo  ;  which  are 
chiefly  of  a  practical  and  useful  tendency,  and  in- 
clude some  discourses  on  natural  history,  delivered  at 
Mr.  Fairchild's  annual  lecture  at  Shoreditch  church, 
of  which  the  preacher  is  appointed  by  the  Royal  Soci- 
ety. They  reflect  credit  on  the  author's  piety  and  bene- 
volence ;  but  his  fondness  for  the  introduction  into 
them  of  allegories  and  spiritual  allusions,  renders  ma- 
ny of  his  remarks  and  illustrations  not  easily  intelli- 
gible to  plain  and  common  readers.  In  the  year  1792, 
alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the  British  constitution, 
which  he  conceived  to  be  in  danger  from  the  grow- 
ing prevalence  of  democratical  principles,  and  also 
for  the  existence  of  the  established  church  and  creed, 
against  which  he  was  led  to  believe  that  the  assiduity 
of  sectaries,  fre°  enquirers  and  unbelievers,  was  direc- 
ted, Mr.  Jones  employed  his  pen  in  the  service  of 
high-church  politics.  He  was  the  author  of  "  A  Let- 
ter from  Thomas  Bull  to  his  Brother  John,"  which 
was  industriously  circulated  throughout  the  kingdom 
by  the  friends  of  administration  ;  and  he  drew  up 
and  published  the  prospectus  of  a  plan  of  a  society 
4<  for  the  reformation  of  principles,"  the  establishment 


LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR.  vi 

of  which  he  had  long  meditated.  To  whatever  cause 
it  was  owing,  however,  his  efforts  to  form  such  a 
society  did  not  succeed.  In  connexion  with  those 
efforts  he  gave  birth  to  "The  British  Critic;"  and 
published  a  collection  of  tracts  by  Charles  Leslie,  Mr. 
Law,  Mr.  Norris,  Roger  North,  Bishop  Home,  our 
author,  &c.  in  two  volumes  octavo,  under  the  title  of 
"  The  Scholar  armed  against  the  Errors  of  the  Time; 
or,  a  Collection  of  Tracts  on  the  Principles  and  Evi- 
dence of  Christianity,  the  Constitution  of  the  Church, 
and  Authority  of  Civil  Goverment."  During  the 
year  last  mentioned  Mr.  Jones  met  with  a  severe  loss 
in  the  death  of  his  intimate  friend,  Bishop  Home,  to 
whom  he  was  chaplain,  and  whose  life  he  undertook 
the  task  of  recording.  This  work  made  its  appearance 
in  the  year  1795,  entitled,  "  Memoirs  of  the  Life,  Stu- 
dies, and  Writings  of  the  Right  Reverend  George 
Home,  D.  D.  late  Lord  Bishop  of  Norwich,"  octavo; 
which,  though  it  cannot  be  commended  as  a  very  re- 
gular and  well-digested  biographical  production,  is  writ- 
ten, on  the  whole,  in  an  interesting  and  pleasing  man- 
ner, and  contains  a  warm  and  affectionate  tribute  of  re- 
spect to  the  memory  of  that  prelate.  To  a  second  edi- 
tion of  it  published  in  1799,  Mr.  Jones  prefixed  a  con- 
cise exposition  of  Mr.  Hutchinson's  leading  theologi- 
cal and  philosophical  opinions. 

Our  author  now  was  become  advanced  in  age,  and 
was  obliged  by  his  infirmities  to  discontinue  his  prac- 
tice of  taking  pupils.  That  he  might  not  be  subject- 
ed to  any  inconvenience  from  the  diminution  of  his 
income  which  was  thus  created,  in  the  year  1798  the 


viii  LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury  benevolently  presented  him 
to  the  sinecure  rectory  of  Hollingbourn  in  Kent; 
which,  however,  he  did  not  live  long  to  enjoy.  The 
last  publication  which  he  sent  into  the  world  was  "  A 
Discourse  on  the  Use  and  Intention  of  some  remarka- 
ble Passages  of  the  Scriptures,  not  commonly  under- 
stood ;  addressed  to  the  Readers  ol  a  Course  of  Lec- 
tures on  the  Figurative  Language  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures," 1799,  octavo.  Soon  after  this,  he  sustained  a 
heavy  loss  by  the  death  of  his  wife,  which  plunged  him 
in  deep  affliction  ;  and  that  trial  was  in  a  short  time 
followed  by  a  paralytic  attack,  which  deprived  him  of 
the  use  of  one  side.  His  faculties,  however,  remained 
uninjured,  and  he  speedily  recoverd  so  far  as  to  be 
able  to  walk  with  a  stick,  and  to  write.  In  this  infirm 
state  of  body  he  lived  some  months,  and  at  length  ex- 
pired, without  a  sigh  or  a  groan,  February  6,  1800,  in 
the  seventy-fourth  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Jones's  learning  was  very  respectable ;  his  attach- 
ment to  what  he  considered  to  be  truth  steady  and 
zealous ;  his  piety  ardent  and  animated ;  his  moral  con- 
duct not  only  irreproachable  but  highly  exemplary ; 
and  his  temper  and  manners  placid,  humble,  and 
obliging.  As  far  as  his  means  extended,  he  delighted 
in  doing  good ;  and  towards  his  flock  he  uniformly 
behaved  as  a  vigilant  affectionate  pastor.  To  his  other 
knowledge  he  added  that  of  physic,  which  he  com- 
mendably  applied  to  the  relief  and  comfort  of  his 
poorer  neighbours.  Of  the  establishment,  of  which 
he  was  a  minister,  he  was  an  intrepid  champion,  on 
what  are  commonly  called  high-church  principles  ;  and 


LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR.  ix 

of  the  theologico-philosophical  system  of  the  Hutch- 
insonian  school  he  is  justly  considered  to  be  the  most 
ingenious  and  plausible  defender.  Besides  the  pieces 
enumerated  in  the  preceding  narrative,  he  published 
numerous  single  sermons,  and  occasional  tracts.  We 
have  only  to  add,  that  Mr.  Jones  was  a  proficient  in  the 
theory  and  practice  of  music  ;  and  that  he  composed 
a  morning  and  evening  cathedral-service,  ten  church 
pieces  for  the  organ,  with  four  anthems  in  score  for 
the  use  of  the  church  ol  Nayland,  which  are  said  to  be 
greatly  admired,  as  of  the  old  school,  and  in  the  true 
classical  style. 


LECTURE  I. 


THE  INTRODUCTION: 

IN  WHICH  IT  IS  SHEWN,  HOW  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE 
SCRIPTURE  DIFFERS  FROM  THAT  OF  OTHER  BOOKS  ; 
AND  WHENCE  ITS  OBSCURITY  ARISES. 

WHEN  the  maker  of  the  world  becomes  an  au- 
thor, his  word  must  be  as  perfect  as  his  work  :  the  glo- 
ry of  his  wisdom  must  be  declared  by  the  one  as  evi- 
dently as  the  glory  of  his  power  is  by  the  other  :  and 
if  nature  repays  the  philosopher  for  his  experiments, 
the  scripture  can  never  disappoint  those  who  are  pro- 
perly exercised  in  the  study  of  it. 

The  world  which  God  hath  made  is  open  to  every 
eye;  but  to  look  upon  the  works  of  nature,  and  to  look 
into  the  ways  of  nature,  are  very  different  things  ;  the 
latter  of  which  is  the  result  of  much  labor  and  obser- 
vation. If  the  economy  of  nature  is  not  to  be  learned 
from  a  transient  inspection  of  the  heavens  and  the 
earth ;  and  if  the  ground  will  not  yield  its  strength  but 
to  those  who  diligently  turn  it  up  and  cultivate  it ;  who 


12  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lbct.  1. 

can  imagine  that  the  wisdom  of  God's  word  can  be  dis- 
covered at  sight  by  every  common  reader  ?  Nature 
must  be  compared  with  itself ;  and  the  scripture  must 
be  compared  with  itself,  by  those  who  would  under- 
stand either  the  one  or  the  other. 

Every  science  hath  its  own  elements  ;  it  hath  a  sort 
of  alphabet  peculiar  to  itself ;  which  must  be  learned  in 
the  first  place,  before  any  judgment  can  be  formed,  or 
any  pleasure  received  when  that  science  is  treated  of: 
for  none  but  fools  are  enamoured  with  what  they  do 
not  understand ;  and  few  things  can  be  understood 
without  being  first  learned.  How  can  I  understand, 
said  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch,  unless  some  man  should 
guide  me  ?  When  he  looked  into  the  prophet  Isaiah,  he 
had  a  book  before  him,  in  which  it  frequently  happens 
that  the  thing  spoken  of  is  not  the  thing  intended ;  and 
he  knew  not  how  to  distinguish  :  oj  whom  speaketh 
the  prophet  this?  said  he  ;  of  himself,  or  of  some  other 
man  ?  Therefore  he  wanted  one  to  guide  him.  But 
the  case  is  so  particular,  that  something  more  than  the 
guidance  of  man  is  necessary :  and  the  royal  prophet 
was  sensible  of  it,  when  he  said,  Open  thou  mine  eyes, 
that  I  may  see  the  wondrous  things  oj  thy  law.  Even 
in  men  of  honest  minds,  well  affected  to  the  truth, 
there  was  found  a  slowness  of  heart,  which  our  blessed 
Saviour  found  it  necessary  to  remove  by  his  own  im- 
mediate grace,  before  his  discourse  could  be  under- 
stood :  then  opened  he  their  understandings,  that  they 
might  understand  the  scripture. 

These,  and  many  other  like  passages,  shew  that  there 
is  a  certain  obscurity  in  the  language  of  the  Bible  which 


Lict.  L|  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^3 

renders  it  difficult  to  be  understood:  that  there  is 
something  which  common  eyes  cannot  discern :  and  it 
may  be  collected  from  what  happens  to  us  in  every 
other  kind  of  learning,  that  there  are  elements,  or 
principles,  which  must  be  known  and  allowed,  be- 
fore we  can  understand  what  the  scriptures  contain. 
The  case  of  the  Jews  demonstrates  by  a  notorious  fact, 
that  the  matter  of  the  Bible  may  be  grossly  misappre- 
hended and  falsely  interpreted.  They  were  zealously 
affected,  after  their  manner,  to  Moses  and  the  prophets: 
they  were  familiarly  acquainted  with  their  writings,  and 
understood  the  original  language  in  which  they  were 
delivered.  But  still,  they  had  eyes  without  seeing,  and 
ears  without  hearing.  The  Bible  was  open  before 
them ;  but  their  attention  or  their  affection  (one  of  the 
two  it  must  have  been)  did  not  penetrate  beyond  the 
surface.  And  as  our  Saviour  preached  to  them  in  the 
same  way  as  Moses  and  the  prophets  had  written,  (of 
which  we  shall  see  more  hereafter)  they  were  as  much 
at  a  loss  for  the  meaning  of  his  discourses,  as  for  the 
true  sense  of  the  law  and  the  prophets.  The  same  de- 
fect may  be  in  us  at  this  day,  and  certainly  is  in  many, 
although  we  have  the  scripture  in  our  mother- tongue ; 
a  blessing  which  was  denied  to  us  so  long  as  we  were 
under  die  authority  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  If  a 
man  hears  the  Bible  all  his  life  with  a  Jewish  mind,  he 
will  know  no  more  of  it  at  last  than  the  Jews  do.  The 
son  of  Adam  will  be  left  as  ignorant  as  the  son  of 
Abraham,  unless  his  heart  and  understanding  are 
opened  to  admit  the  principles  of  the  Christian  Reve- 
J.-ition.  It  is  in  vain  to  argue  about  the  superstructure. 


14  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         $Lect.  1. 

so  long  as  the  foundation  is  disputed,  either  through 
ignorance  or  disaffection. 

This  obscurity  then  in  the  word  of  God  doth  not 
arise  from  the  language  or  the  grammar ;  for  so  far  as 
the  Bible,  like  other  books,  is  the  subject  of  critical 
industry  :  and  much  useful  labour  hath  been  em- 
ployed by  learned  and  pious  men  in  clearing  the  let- 
ter of  the  scripture  from  the  ambiguities  to  which  all 
language  is  subject.  The  difficulties  under  which  the 
Jew  laboured  were  not  grammatical  difficulties :  and 
whatever  those  may  be  in  the  original,  they  are  remo- 
ved for  all  common  readers  by  the  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  their  mother-tongue.  The  great  difficulties 
of  the  scripture  arise  totally  from  other  causes  and 
principles  ;  namely,  from  the  matter  of  which  it  treats, 
and  the  various  forms  under  which  that  matter  is  de- 
livered. 

Let  us  consider  first,  how  the  case  stands  with  respect 
to  the  matter  of  scripture ;  and  then  secondly,  with 
respect  to  the  form  or  manner  in  which  that  matter  is 
represented. 

The  Bible  treats  of  a  dispensation  of  God,  which  be- 
gan before  this  world,  and  will  not  be  finished  till  the 
world  is  at  an  end,  and  the  eternal  kingdom  of  God  is 
established.  It  informs  us  of  the  institution  of  religion 
in  paradise,  with  the  original  dependence  of  man  upon 
his  maker  :  of  a  primitive  state  of  man  under  a  former 
covenant,  which  is  now  forfeited :  of  his  temptation  and 
fall :  of  the  causes  of  death,  and  the  promise  of  redemp- 
tion. It  founds  a  ritual  on  the  remission  of  sin  by  the 
shedding  of  blood,  and  the  benefits  of  intercession ; 


Lect.  1.J  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  15 

which  the  heathens  also  acknowledge  in  the  traditionary 
rites  of  their  priesthood.  It  relates  the  dispersion  of 
the  Gentile  nations,  and  the  separation  of  the  Hebrews. 
It  foretels  the  manifestation  of  a  Saviour  in  the  flesh ; 
the  rejection  of  the  Jews ;  the  calling  and  conversion 
of  the  heathens  ;  the  establishment  of  the  Christian 
Church,  with  its  preservation  against  the  powers  of 
the  world,  and  the  gates  of  hell.  It  treats  of  a  spiritual 
life,  and  renewed  affections  in  its  members ;  that  they 
must  even  be  born  again  in  a  spiritual  manner,  and 
return  to  a  state  of  childish  simplicity  in  their  under- 
standings ;  it  assures  us  of  the  resurrection  of^he  bo- 
dy after  death  ;  of  the  future  judgment  of  the  world 
by  the  man  Jesus  Christ ;  of  the  glorification  of  the 
faithful,  and  the  condemnation  of  the  wicked.  It 
opens  to  us  an  invisible  world  of  spirits,  some  of  whom 
are  in  alliance  with  God,  and  others  in  rebellion  against 
him  ;  assuring  us  withal,  that  every  man  will  have  his 
final  portion  with  the  one  party  or  the  other. 

None  of  these  things  are  known  lo  us  by  nature ; 
and  it  is  not  pretended  that  they  are ;  for  if  man  draws 
a  scheme  of  religion  for  himself,  not  one  of  all  these 
articles  finds  a  place  in  it.  Therefore  as  the  nature 
of  man  doth  not  know  any  of  these  things  till  God 
reveals  them,  it  must  of  course  be  under  two  very 
great  difficulties ;  first,  of  understanding  or  compre- 
hending; and  secondly,  of  admitting  or  receiving 
them. 

From  the  difficulty  we  are  under  of  comprehending 
such  things  as  are  above  natural  reason,  the  manner  of 
the  scripture  is  as  extraordinary  as  its  matter :  and  it 


16  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lbct.  1. 

must  be  so  from  the  necessity  of  the  case.     Of  all  the 
objects  of  sense  we  have  ideas,  and  our  minds  and 
memories  are  stored  with  them.     But  of  invisible 
things  we  have  no  ideas  till  they  are  pointed  out  to  us, 
by  revelation :  and  as  we  cannot  know  them  immedi-  \  \ 
ately,  such  as  they  are  in  themselves,  after  the  manner  1 
in  which  we  know  sensible  objects,  they  must  be  com- 
municated to  us  by  the  mediation  of  such  things  as 
we  already  comprehend.     For  this  reason,  the  scrip- 
ture is  found  to  have  a  language  of  its  own,  which 
doth  not  consist  of  words,  but  of  signs  or  figures 
taken  from  visible  things.     It  could  not  otherwise 
treat  of  God  who  is  a  spirit,  and  of  the  spirit  of  man, 
and  of  a  spiritual  world ;  which  no  words  can  describe. 
Words  are  the  arbitrary  signs  of  natural  things  ;  but 
the  language  of  revelation  goes  a  step  farther,  and 
uses  some  things  as  the  signs  of  other  things ;  in  con- 
sequence of  which,  the  world  which  we  now  see  be- 
comes a  sort  of  commentary  on  the  mind  of  God,  and 
explains  the  woi|d  in  which  we  believe. 

It  being  then  the  professed  design  of  the  scripture 
to  teach  us  such  things  as  we  neither  see  nor  know  of 
ourselves,  its  style  and  manner  must  be  such  as  are  no 
where  else  to  be  found.  It  must  abound  with  figura- 
tive expressions ;  it  cannot  proceed  without  them :  and 
if  we  descend  to  an  actual  examination  of  particulars, 
wc  find  it  assisting  and  leading  our  faculties  forward ; 
by  an  application  of  all  visible  objects  to  a  figurative 
use ;  from  the  glorious  orb  which  shines  in  the  firma- 
ment, to  a  grain  of  seed  which  is  buried  in  the  earth. 
In  this  sort  of  language  did  our  blessed  Saviour  in- 


Lect.  1.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  17 

struct  his  hearers ;  always  referring  them  to  such  objects 
as  were  familiar  to  their  sensts,  that  they  might  see  the 
propriety  and  feel  the  force  of  his  doctrine.  This  me- 
thod he  observed,  not  in  compliance  with  any  cus- 
tomary figures  of  speech  peculiar  to  the  eastern  people, 
but  consulting  the  exigence  of  human  nature,  which 
is  every  where  the  same.  He  spake  a  sort  of  language 
which  was  to  be  carried  out  into  all  lands ;  and  which 
we  of  the  western  world  are  obliged  to  follow  in  our 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  because  we  cannot  otherwise 
preach  it  so  as  to  be  understood  by  our  hearers. — 
Here  I  find  it  necessary  to  confirm  what  I  have  ad- 
vanced by  some  examples. 

As  we  have  but  imperfect  notions  of  the  relations 
and  differences  between  life  and  death,  our  Saviour, 
when  he  was  about  to  raise  a  maid  to  life,  said  to  those 
who  were  present,  the  damsel  is  not  dead  but  sleepeth. 
He  did  not  say,  she  is  dead,  and  I  will  raise  her  to  life; 
but  she  is  asleep ;  whence  it  was  to  be  inferred  that 
she  would  awake.  They  who  were  not  skilled  in  the 
divine  language  of  signs  and  figures,  laughed  him  to 
scorn ;  as  if  he  had  spoken  in  ignorance  what  was  ex- 
pressed with  consummate  truth  and  wisdom :  For  the 
substitution  of  sleep  for  death,  when  we  have  it  upon 
such  great  authority,  has  the  force  and  value  of  an 
whole  sermon  in  a  single  word:  it  is  a  seed  from 
whence  a  tree  of  life  may  be  unfolded. 

Upon  another  like  occasion,  our  Saviour  expressed 

himself  in  the  same  manner  to  his  disciples  ;  our  friend 

Lazarus  sleepeth;  and  when  they  did  not  understand 

the  force  of  his  words,  he  said  plainly,  Lazarus  is 

3 


13  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLeci.1. 

dead.  When  he  spake  of  the  deadness  of  the  mind,  a 
state,  which,  however  real,  must  always  be  invisible, 
because  the  mind  itself  is  so ;  he  expressed  it  under 
the  same  term  with  the  death  of  the  body ;  let  the  dead 
bury  their  dead;  of  which  expression  no  sense  can  be 
made  by  those  who  are  not  aware,  that  the  scripture 
speaks  to  us  by  things  instead  of  words.  Admit  this 
principle,  and  then  all  is  clear  and  consistent.  It  is 
as  if  Christ  had  said,  "  Let  those  who  are  dead  in  their 
spirits,  (with  respect  to  the  new  life  of  the  gospel,) 
employ  themselves  in  burying  those  who  are  dead  in 
body  ;  for  they  are  fit  for  nothing  else  :  but  by  follow- 
ing me  and  preaching  the  gospel,  thou  shalt  raise  men 
from  the  death  of  sin  unto  the  life  of  righteousness." 
In  the  writings  of  the  prophets,  the  spiritual  bles- 
sings of  the  gospel  are  so  constantly  described  under 
some  allusion  to  nature,  that  their  expressions  are  not 
true  till  they  are  figuratively  interpreted.  Let  us  take 
an  example  from  the  prophet  Isaiah  :  Every  valley 
shall  be  exalted,  and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be 
made  low,  and  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and 
the  rough  places  plain.  Who  ever  heard  that  this 
was  literally  fulfilled  ?  In  what  part  of  the  world  were 
all  the  mountains  levelled  ;  the  vallies  filled  up  ;  the 
crooked  and  rough  places  made  straight  and  plain?  But 
in  the  figurative  sense  all  these  things  were  to  be 
brought  to  pass  in  the  minds  of  men  at  the  publication 
of  the  gospel,  when  all  flesh  should  see  the  salvation 
of  God.*.    Then  should  the  high  and  mighty  of  this 

*  Luke  Hi.  6. 


Lbct.  l.j  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ±g 

world  be  confounded  and  brought  low ;  the  humble 
should  be  exalted,  the  meek  encouraged,  the  crooked 
ways  of  men  rectified,  their  wild  and  rugged  tempers 
softened  and  civilized. 

The  Bible  has  farther  difficulties  arising  from  another 
principle.  For  it  pleased  God,  for  wise  ends,  to  ex- 
ercise the  faith  and  devotion  of  his  people  with  a  sys- 
tem of  forms  and  eeremonies,  which  had  no  value  but 
from  their  signification.  I  mention  no  particulars 
here,  because  they  will  occur  to  us  abundantly  hereaf- 
ter ;  but  the  fact  is  undoubted  from  that  general  asser- 
tion of  St.  Paul,  that  the  law  had  a  shadow  of  good 
things  to  come:*  and  again,  that  the  instituted  meats 
and  drinks,  the  holy  days,  new  moons  and  sabbaths, 
of  the  law,  are  a  shadow  of  things  to  come,  having  their 
substance  in  the  doctrines  and  mysteries  of  Christi- 
anity ;  or,  as  the  apostle  speaks,  whose  body  is  of 
Christ.^  And  therefore  in  the  gospel  things  are  still 
described  to  us  in  the  terms  of  the  law  ;  the  substance 
itself  taking  the  language  of  the  shadow,  that  the  de- 
sign of  both  may  be  understood  :  as  where  the  apostle 
saith,  Christ  our  Passover  is  sacrificed  for  us,  &c. 
from  the  application  of  which  term  to  the  person  of 
Christ,  we  are  taught,  under  this  one  word  of  the 
passover,  that  he  is  to  us  a  lamb  in  meekness  and  in- 
nocence of  manners;  pure  and  spotless  from  every 
stain  of  sin ;  slain  (and  that  without  the  breaking  of  his 
bones,)  for  the  redemption  of  his  people  from  the  wrath 


*Heb.  x.  1.        +  Col.  ii.  17. 


20  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  1. 

of  the   destroyer ;  and  feeding  with  his  body  those 
who  put  away  all  leaven  from  their  hearts. 

But  now,  besides  this  first  difficulty  which  we  are 
under,  of  comprehending  the  matter  of  the  scripture 
from  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  it  is  delivered,  we 
are  under  a  second  difficulty  as  to  the  receiving  of  it; 
without  which  our  understanding  of  it  will  be  very 
imperfect,  if  any  at  all.  For  the  force  of  men's  minds 
is  generally  found  to  be  according  to  their  affections ; 
for  which  reason  the  disaffection  of  the  Jew  is  attended 
with  a  very  conspicuous  weakness  of  the  understand- 
ing. We  may  lay  it  down  as  a  certain  truth,  con- 
firmed by  the  experience  of  all  men,  that  when  any 
object  is  admitted  into  the  mind,  it  must  find  a  faculty 
there  which  corresponds  with  its  own  peculiar  nature. 
When  there  is  no  appetite,  the  sweetest  meat  is  of  no 
value,  and  even  the  sight  and  savour  of  it  may  be  disa- 
greeable. When  there  is  neither  ear  nor  skill  in 
music,  heavenly  sounds  give  no  delight ;  and  with  the 
blind  the  beams  of  the  sun  give  no  beauty  to  the 
richest  prospect.  It  is  thus  in  every  other  case  of 
the  kind.  The  mathematician  and  logician  apply  to 
the  intuitive  faculty  of  reason  ;  the  poet  to  the  imagi- 
nation or  mirror  of  the  mind ;  the  orator  to  the  sensi- 
bility of  the  affections  ;  the  musician  to  the  musical 
ear.  The  mathematician  demonstrates  nothing  but 
to  patient  and  attentive  reason ;  to  the  imagination 
which  is  dull  the  poet  is  a  trifler;  on  the  hard  and  un- 
feeling heart  the  orator  makes  no  impression ;  and  the 
sweetest  music  is  referred  to  the  class  of  noises,  where 
there  is  no  sense  of  harmony.  Thus  when  God  speaks 


•Lect.I.J  of  the  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  21 

of  things  which  are  above  nature,  his  meaning  must 
be  received  by  a  faculty  which  is  not  the  gift  of  na- 
ture, but  superadded  to  nature  by  the  gift  of  God 
himself.  For  spiritual  truth  there  must  be  a  spiritual 
sense  ;  and  the  scripture  calk  this  sense  by  the  name 
of  faith  :  which  word  sometimes  signifies  the  act  of 
believing ;  sometimes  the  matter  which  is  believed ; 
but  in  many  passages  it  is  used  for  that  sense  or  ca- 
pacity in  the  intellect,  by  which  the  invisible  things 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  are  admitted  and  approved. 

It  is  a  doctrine  which  may  occasion  some  mortifica- 
tion to  human  pride,  and  it  seldom  fails  to  do  so ;  but 
no  doctrine  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  more  deci- 
ded than  this,  that  all  men  have  not  faith  ;  that  it  is 
the  gift  of  God  wherever  it  is  found  ;  and  that  the  na- 
tural man,  or  man  with  no  powers  but  those  of  our 
common  nature,  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spir- 
it of  God:  so  far  from  it,  that  they  seem  foolish,  extra- 
vagant, and  incredible,  and  are  rejected  with  mockery 
and  contempt  by  men  who  can  write  a  pleasant  style, 
and  who  seem  to  be  in  other  respects  (within  the  sphere 
of  their  affections)  very  sensible  and  ingenious  persons. 
On  what  other  ground  but  that  of  the  scriptural  dis- 
tinction between  faith  and  natural  reason,  is  it  possi- 
ble to  account  for  a  fact  which  so  frequently  occurred 
at  the  first  publication  of  the  gospel ;  when  the  same 
speech,  the  same  reasoning,  yea,  and  the  same  miracle, 
had  a  totally  different  effect  on  the  minds  of  different 
hearers,  all  present  on  the  same  occasion  ?  When  Peter 
and  John  healed  the  lame  man  at  the  gate  of  the  temple, 
and  all  the  people  were  spectators  of  the  fact,  the  apos- 


-22  °tf  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         JLkct.  1. 

tics  addressed  themselves  in  a  powerful  discourse  to 
those  who  were  present ;  the  lame  man  still  cleaving 
to  them,  and  standing  by  them  as  a  witness  :  and  thus 
they  made  some  thousands  of  converts  to  the  word  of 
the  gospel.  But  behold,  the  Sadducees  were  grieved 
at  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  though  preached 
with  all  the  force  of  truth  from  their  own  scriptures, 
and  attended  with  the  credential  of  an  indisputable  mi- 
racle ;  which  only  vexed  and  distressed  them  the  more. 
At  Athens,  the  philosophers  of  the  place,  proud  of 
their  Grecian  talent  for  oratory  and  disputation,  con- 
sidered the  matter  of  Paul's  preaching  merely  as  a  new 
thing,  which  gave  them  an  opportunity  of  questioning 
and  wrangling.  Some  called  him  a  babbler  ;  some  said 
they  would  hear  him  again ;  some  mocked  at  the  re- 
surrection of  the  dead  ;  while  Dionysius,  one  of  their 
senators,  Damaris,  and  some  others,  clave  unto  them 
and  believed :  in  other  words,  they  received  the  gospel 
with  that  faculty  of  the  spirit,  which  alone  is  susceptible 
of  it.  Till  there  is  in  man  the  sense  which  receiveth  these 
things,  the  book  which  treats  of  them  will  not  be  un- 
derstood. If  they  are  rejected,  we  must  conclude  this 
sense  to  be  wanting :  and  when  that  is  the  case,  the  evi- 
dence of  a  miracle  will  not  force  its  way  through  the 
hardness  of  the  human  heart.  Some  speculative  writers 
have  treated  of  credibility  and  probability,  and  the  na- 
ture, and  force,  and  degrees,  of  evidence,  as  if  we  had 
rules  for  weighing  all  truth  to  a  single  grain  with  me- 
chanical certainty  :  whereas  in  fact,  man,  with  all  his 
boasted  balancings  of  reason,  can  resist  a  proof  that 
would  confound  a  devil.  Compare  the  following  exam- 


Lect.  1.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  23 

pies  : The  Jews  said  "  As  for  this  fellow  we  know  not 

whence  he  is."  The  devils  said,  "  I  know  thee  who 
thou  art,  the  holy  one  of  God."  The  Jews  said,  that 
Christ  cast  out  devils  through  Beelzebub  their  prince : 
but  the  devils  never  said  so  themselves.  The  sun  of  the 
noon-day  shines  without  effect  upon  the  blind,  because 
the  proper  sense  is  wanting  :  so  saith  the  Evangelist, 
the  light  shineth  in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  com- 
prehendeth  it  not.  Vicious  inclinations  and  habits  of 
sin,  which  render  truth  disagreeable,  are  sure  to  have 
the  effect  of  weakening  and  perverting  the  judgment ; 
this  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into  the 
world,  and  men  love  darkness  rather  than  light,  be- 
cause their  deeds  were  evil.  The  understanding  of 
truth  implies  a  love  of  truth  }  and  the  understanding 
will  be  deficient  so  long  as  that  love  is  wanting.  None 
are  so  blind  as  they  who  are  so  by  choice ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  ignorant  are  never  found  to  be  so  absurd  as 
the  disaffected.  The  word  of  God  is  in  itself  all-suf- 
ficient for  the  illumination  of  the  mind ;  it  is  a  seed 
quick  and  vigorous  with  the  principles  of  life;  but,  like 
other  seeds,  it  must  find  something  congenial  with  it- 
self in  the  soil  into  which  it  falls.  The  word  spoken 
did  not  profit  the  Jews,  because  it  was  not  mixed  with 
faith  in  them  that  heard  it ;  there  was  nothing  in  the 
soil  to  give  it  nourishment  and  growth. 

The  distinction  which  the  scripture  hath  made  be- 
tween natural  aud  spiritual  men ;  that  is,  between  men 
that  have  faith  and  men  that  have  none,  is  agreeable  to 
what  hath  been  observed  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world ;  that  there  have  been  two  classes  of  people,  all 
sprung  from  the  same  original,  but  totally  different  in 


24  OS  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  1. 

their  views,  principles,  and  manners.  Before  the  flood, 
they  were  distinguished  as  the  children  of  Cain,  and 
the  children  of  Se  h  ;  the  latter  of  whom  inherited  the 
faith  of  Abel.  After  the  flood,  we  find  them  again 
under  the  denomination  of  Hebrews  and  Heathens. 
In  the  gospel,  they  appear  to  us  as  the  children  of  this 
world,  and  the  children  of  light:  the  former  cunning 
and  active  in  their  generation  for  the  interests  of  this 
life,  the  other  wise  towards  God  and  the  things  of 
eternity.  These  two  run  on  together,  like  two  parallel 
lines,  through  the  history  of  this  world ;  always  near 
to  one  another,  but  never  meeting.  Whoever  consi- 
ders this  fact,  will  not  be  at  a  loss  for  a  reason,  why  the 
wisdom  of  God  in  the  scripture  is  so  differently  ac- 
cepted in  the  world. 

Having  thus  endeavoured  to  shew  that  the  scripture 
must  have  its  difficulties,  and  whence  they  arise  ;  we 
shall  obtain  some  farther  light,  if  we  enquire  what  the 
scripture  hath  said  concerning  itself. 

The  great  apostle  thus  distinguishes  between  the 
language  of  revelation,  and  the  words  of  human  wis- 
dom. "  We  speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery, 
even  the  hidden  wisdom — which  none  of  the  princes  of 
this  world  knew ;  for  had  they  known  it,  they  would 
not  have  crucified  the  Lord  of  Glory."  By  which  he 
means,  that  the  priests  and  rulers  who  stood  up  against 
the  Lord,  did  so  for  want  of  understanding  that  sense 
of  the  scripture  which  is  hidden  under  the  signs  and 
symbols  of  it,  in  a  way  totally  different  from  the  wis- 
dom of  this  world,  and  which  the  natural  man*  can 

1  Cor.  ii.  14. 


Lect.  1.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  25 

neither  see  nor  admit.  The  word  mystery,  in  a  vulgar 
acceptation,  is  applied  to  such  things  as  are  dark  and 
unintelligible:  but  to  speak  in  a  mystery,  as  the  phrase 
is  used  in  the  scripture,  is  to  reveal  some  sacred  and 
heavenly  doctrine  under  some  outward  and  visible  sign 
of  it ;  and  thus  the  sacrament  of  the  church  being  out- 
ward signs  with  an  inward  and  spiritual  meaning,  are 
also  to  be  understood  as  mysteries.  This  sense  of 
the  word  mystery  is  ascertained  by  the  passage  in  the 
Revelation  ;  the  mystery  of  the  seven  stars  which  thou  • 
saivest  in  my  right  hand,  and  the  seven  golden  candle- 
sticks :  the  seven  stars  are  the  angels  of  the  seven 
churches  ;  and  the  seven  candlesticks  which  thou  saw- 
est  are  the  seven  churches.  To  signify  a  church  hold- 
ing forth  the  light  of  the  gospel,  by  that  domestic  in- 
strument of  illumination  which  holds  a  candle  ;  and  to 
signify  a  ruler  or  teacher  by  a  star  which  gives  light  from 
the  firmament  of  heaven,  is  to  speak  under  the  form  of  a 
mystery  ;  which  is  not  necessarily  unintelligible,  be- 
cause it  is  here  explained.  So  in  another  place  ;  this  is 
a  great  mystery,  saiththe  apostle,  but  1  speak  concern- 
ing Christ  and  the  church.  To  teach  us  the  union  be- 
twixt Christ  and  the  church,  for  the  bringing  forth  of 
sons  to  glory,  under  the  similitude  of  Adam  and  Eve 
united  in  paradise  for  the  multiplying  of  mankind  upon 
earth,  is  also  to  speak  in  a  mystery.  The  sorceress 
in  the  Revelation,*  who  is  called  by  the  name  of  Ba- 
bylon, hath  the  word  Mystery  inscribed  with  that 
name  upon  her  forehead ;  because  Babylon  is  there  not 

*  Chap.  xvii. 


26  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  1. 

literal,  but  figurative  or  mystical,  to  denote  that  abomi- 
nation of  idolatry,  by  the  sorceries  of  which  all  na- 
tions were  deceived:*  She  sitteth  on  a  scarlet -coloured 
beast,  supported  by  the  imperial  powers  of  this  world, 
called  the  kings  of  the  earth;  and  the  wine  in  her  cup 
is  the  false  doctrine  with  which  she  intoxicates  the 
minds  of  men. 

This  hidden  wisdom  of  the  scripture  is  to  be  con- 
sidered as  treasure  hid  in  the  earth,  for  which  men 
must  search  with  that  same  zeal  and  labour  with  which 
the}r  penetrate  into  a  mine  of  gold  :  for  when  our  Sa- 
viour commands  us  to  search  the  scriptures  for  their 
testimony  of  himself,  the  language  of  the  precept  im- 
plies that  kind  of  searching  by  which  gold  and  silver 
are  discovered  under  ground.  He  who  doth  not  search 
the  word  of  God  in  that  manner,  and  with  that  spirit, 
for  what  is  to  be  found  underneath  it,  will  never  dis- 
cover its  true  value.  The  same  principle  is  inculcated 
with  a  like  allusion,  when  the  divine  law  is  compared 
to  honey  and  the  honey-comb  ;  an  inward  sense  being 
therein  hidden,  as  when  the  bee  seals  up  its  treasure  in 
the  cell  of  wax  :  and  the  one  when  taken  out  is  as 
sweet  to  the  understanding  as  the  other  is  to  the  palate. 
It  is  also  as  the  corn  in  the  husk,  which  must  be  taken 
from  thence  by  the  labour  of  the  ox  on  the  threshing 
floor,  (as  the  custom  was  of  old)  before  it  can  support 
the  life  of  man.  As  the  disciples  of  Christ  plucked 
the  ears  of  corn,  and  rubbed  them  in  their  hands  on  the 
Sabbath-day,  so  should  every  Christain  preacher  han- 

*  Chap.  xii.  23. 


Lect.  l.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  27 

die  the  word  of  God  before  it  can  give  nourishment 
to  his  hearers.  The  labour  of  the  ministry  is  certainly 
alluded  to  in  that  precept  relating  to  the  threshing-floor, 
Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  when  he  treadeth  out 
the  corn:  for  the  apostle  seems  to  wonder  how  any 
could  be  so  absurd  as  to  suppose  that  God  considered 
nothing  but  the  benefit  of  the  beast  on  this  occasion ; 
if  he  had  care  oj  oxen,  when  he  undoubtedly  meant 
to  assign  the  reward,  and  signify  the  work  of  his  mi- 
nisters, zvho  labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine.  It  is 
the  work  of  the  ministry  to  expound  the  word  of  God, 
as  the  labouring  ox  in  the  threshing  floor  treadeth  out 
the  grain  from  the  chaff:  and  as  the  ox  is  not  muzzled 
at  such  a  time,  but  partakes  freely  of  the  fruits  of  his 
labour  ;  so,  by  parity  of  justice,  they  who  preach  the 
word  have  a  right  to  live  of  it. 

That  there  is  both  a  plain  and  figurative  sense  in 
the  language  of  the  scripture,  particularly  in  the  law, 
is  clear  from  the  apostle's  reasoning  on  another  occa- 
sion. He  gives  a  name  to  each  of  these,  distinguishing 
them  under  the  contrary  terms  of  the  letter  and  the 
spirit :  which  terms  are  not  unfrequently  applied  in  the 
language  of  civil  life  to  the  laws  of  the  land,  in  which 
there  is  a  literal  sense  of  the  words,  and  a  deeper  sense 
of  their  general  intention,  called  the  spirit,  which  the 
letter  cannot  always  reach. 

The  letter  of  the  scripture  is  applied  to  the  outward 
institutions  and  ceremonies  of  the  law,  as  they  stand 
in  the  words  of  the  law  without  their  interpretation  : 
the  spirit  of  them,  or  the  intention  of  the  lawgiver,  is 
the  same  with  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament. 


28  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  1. 

called  elsewhere  the  good  things  to  come,  of  which 
the  law  had  an  image  and  shadow.  In  its  washings 
and  purifications  we  see  the  doctrine  of  baptism;  that 
is,  of  regeneration  by  water  and  the  Spirit  of  God.* 
In"  its  sacrifices  we  see  the  necessity  and  efficacy  of 
Christ's  death  once  for  all.  Had  it  not  been  necessa- 
ry for  man  to  be  born  of  the  Spirit,  and  redeemed  by 
the  blood  of  Christ,  the  law  would  not  have  troubled 
the  people  with  washings  and  sacrifices ;  for  in  that  case 
they  would  have  signified  nothing,  and  consequent- 
ly would  have  been  superfluous  and  impertinent: — 
whereas  if  we  take  them  right,  the  services  of  the  law 
are  the  gospel  in  figurative  description,  and  the  gospel 
is  the  law  in  spirit  and  signification.  The  passover  of 
the  law  is  a  sign  of  Christ  that  was  to  come ;  and  Christ 
when  he  is  come  is  the  sense  and  signification  of  the 
passover.  It  is  the  duty  of  a  Christian  minister  not  to 
disappoint  the  law  or  the  gospel,  but  to  do  justice  to 
the  wisdom  of  God  in  both,  and  put  these  things  to- 
gether, for  the  edification  of  the  people.  "  Our  suf- 
ficiency, saith  the  apostle,  is  of  God,  who  hath  made 
us  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament,  not  of  the 
letter  but  of  the  spirit :  for  the  letter  killeth,  but  the 
spirit  givcth  life."  The  letter  of  the  law,  voided  of  its 
evangelical  intention,  leaves  our  bodies  washed,  but 
our  souls  unclean  ;  it  leaves  us  nothing  but  the  blood 
of  bulls  and  of  goats,  and  consequently  under  guilt  and 
forfeiture ;  whence  the  apostle  hath  truly  affirmed,  that 
in  this  capacity  it  is  a  ministration  of  death.     In  his 

*  Ezek.  xxxvi.  25. 


Lect.  1.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  09 

reasonings  with  the  Jews,  he  presses  them  with  the 
unreasonableness  and  wickedness  of  restirg  in  the 
literal  observation  of  the  law ;  telling  them,  that  by 
the  letter  and  circumcision  they  transgressed  the  laxv. 
But  how  could  this  be  ?  did  not  the  law  ordain  cir- 
cumcision in  the  letter  ?  it  did  undoubtedly  :  yet, 
however  paradoxical  it  may  appear,  the  literal  obser- 
vation of  the  law  was  a  transgression  of  the  law.  From 
whence  it  is  a  necessary  consequence,  that  the  letter 
of  the  law  was  ordained  only  for  the  sake  of  its  spirit 
or  moral  intention  ;  which  the  Jew  neglecting,  while 
he  trusted  in  the  law  as  a  form,  was  in  effect  a  trans- 
gressor of  it ;  and  was  condemned  in  his  error  by  the 
Gentiles,  who,  without  being  born  under  the  letter  of 
the  law,  had  now  attained  to  the  spirit  of  it,  and  were 
better  Jews  than  the  Jews  themselves :  for,  adds  the 
apostle,  he  is  not  a  Jew  which  is  one  outwardly,  neither 
is  that  circumcision,  which  is  outwardly  in  the  jiesh  ; 
but  he  is  a  Jew  which  is  one  inwardly,  and  circumci- 
sion (as  Moses  himself  hath  taught*)  is  that  of  the 
heart,  in  the  spirit  and  not  in  the  letter. 

To  enquire  more  particularly  into  the  errors  of  the 
Jews  and  the  causes  of  them,  would  be  foreign  to  my 
design.  The  fact  is  plain,  that  they  erred  by  a  literal 
interpretation  of  their  law;  and  that  by  still  adhering  to 
the  same,  they  are  no  nearer  to  the  gospel  now  than  they 
were  seventeen  hundred  years  ago.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  succeeded  in  their  labours 
by  being  ministers  of  the  spirit;  that  is,  by  interpreting 

Deut.  x.  16. 


30  °^T  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  1. 

and  reasoning  according  to  an  inward  or  figurative 
sense  in  the  law,  the  prophets,  and  the  psalms.  All 
the  fathers  of  the  Christian  church  followed  their  ex- 
ample; particularly  Origen,  one  of  the  most  useful  and 
powerful  of  primitive  expositors.  Then  were  the 
Jews  confounded,  the  heathens  converted,  the  word  of 
God  was  efficacious,  and  the  people  were  edified. 
The  same  way  of  teaching  was  observed  in  the  middle 
ages,  till  the  times  of  the  reformation ;  and  even  then 
our  best  scholars  still  drew  their  divine  oratory,  par- 
ticularly the  learned  and  accomplished  Erasmus,  from 
the  spiritual  wisdom  of  the  first  ages.  To  revive  and 
promote  which,  within  my  own  little  sphere,  is  the  de- 
sign of  this  and  the  following  lectures  :  in  all  which  I 
shall  invariably  follow  the  rule  of  making  the  scripture 
its  own  interpreter.  And  now  I  have  opened  the  way 
by  shewing  in  what  respects  and  for  what  reasons  the 
style  of  the  scripture  differs  from  that  of  other  books, 
and  that  it  is  symbolical  or  figurative ;  I  propose,  with 
God's  leave,  to  distinguish  the  figures  of  the  scripture 
into  their  proper  kinds,  with  examples  and  explanations 
in  each  kind,  from  the  scripture  itself. 


Lect.  2.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES. 


LECTURE  It 


ON  THE  FIGURES  WHICH  ARE  FOUND  IN  THE  LANGUAGE  OF 
THE  SCRIPTURE,  AND  THE  SEVERAL  KINDS  OF  THEM. 

IT  hath  been  shewn  in  the  former  Lecture,  that 
as  the  scripture  teaches  spiritual  things  which  cannot 
be  taught  in  words,  the  wisdom  of  God  hath  made 
use  of  things,  as  signs  and  figures,  to  explain  them. 
This  is  done  for  several  reasons  :  first,  because  we 
cannot  conceive  things  of  a  spiritual  nature  but  by  bor- 
rowing our  notions  of  them  from  the  things  that  are 
visible  and  familiar  to  our  senses.  Secondly,  because 
the  scripture  can  speak  under  this  form  to  some  men, 
and  reveal  many  things  to  them,  while  the  same  words 
reveal  nothing  to  others  :  like  that  pillar  in  the  wilder- 
ness, which  was  a  cloud  of  darkness  to  the  Egyptians, 
while  it  gave  light  to  the  Hebrews.  Thirdly,  because 
an  outward  sign,  such  as  those  of  the  scripture  are, 
becomes  a  pledge  and  an  evidence  of  the  thing  signi- 
fied ;  as  it  doubtless  is  a  wonderful  confirmation  of  the" 
gospel  to  see  its  mysteries  exactly  delineated  so  long 
before  in  the  services  of  the  law  of  Moses  ;  and  much 
more  to  see  them  written  in  the  characters  of  nature 
itself. 


32  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  2. 

The  things  which  the  scripture  uses  as  figures  of 
other  things  are  taken,  1.  From  the  natural  creation, 
or  world  of  sensible  objects.  2.  From  the  institutions 
of  the  law.  3.  From  the  persons  of  the  prophets  and 
holy  men  of  old  time.  4.  From  the  history  of  the 
church.  5.  From  the  actions  of  inspired  men,  which 
in  many  instances  were  not  only  miracles,  but  signs  of 
something  beyond  themselves,  and  conformable  to  the 
general  plan*  of  our  salvation  and  redemption. 

These  are  the  materials  of  that  figurative  language 
in  which  the  Bible  is  written;  and  of  the  several  kinds 
of  them,  as  here  distinguished,  I  shall  treat  in  their 
order,  after  I  have  given  a  general  description  of  each. 

1.  When  any  object  is  taken  from  the  visible  crea- 
tion, and  applied  as  an  illustration  or  sign  of  some 
spiritual  truth,  we  call  it  a  natural  image.  The  scrip- 
ture calls  them  similitudes  ;  as  in  that  passage  of  the 
prophet  Hosea — [have  multiplied  visions,  and  used 
similitudes  by  the  ministry  of  the  prophets.*  A  dis- 
course made  up  of  such  is  called  a  parable  ;  a  form 
of  speech  which  our  Saviour  as  a  divine  teacher  thought 
most  agreeable  to  the  nature  of  his  own  preaching, 
and  to  the  wants  of  his  hearers.  In  which,  however, 
he  only  did  what  the  scripture  had  always  done ;  he 
instructed  the  eyes  of  the  understanding  by  placing 
some  natural  object  before  them  ;  and  as  the  visible 
world  throughout  is  a  pattern  of  the  invisible,  the 
figures  oi  the  sacred  language  built  upon  the  images 
of  nature,  are  as  extensive  as  the  world  itself;  so  that 

*  Hosea  xii.  10. 


Lect.  2.J  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES,  33 

k  would  be  a  vain  undertaking  to  interpret  all  the 
figures  which  are  reducible  to  this  class. 

o 

2.  Other  figures  are  borrowed  from  the  institutions 
of  the  ceremonial  law,  which  are  applied  to  the  things 
of  the  gospel ;  and  in  this  capacity  the  law  is  all  figure. 
It  is  nothing  considered  in  itself  but  a  copy,  a  shadow 
of  good  things  to  come  ;  and  as  a  shadow,  it  had  only 
the  form,  not  the  substance,  (or  very  image,  as  the 
scripture  calls  it)  of  the  things  hoped  for.  Its  ele- 
ments were  like  those  of  the  gospel  in  form ;  and  there- 
fore it  was  a  schoolmaster,  a  teacher  of  such  elements 
as  prepared  the  mind  for  the  reception  of  a  spiritual 
dispensation,  in  which  its  shadows  are  now  realized* 

When  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  is  called  a  priest, 
a  character  is  given  to  him,  which  cannot  be  under- 
stood till  we  go  back  to  the  law.  There  we  see  what 
a  priest  was,  and  what  he  did  ;  and  thence  we  learn 
the  nature  of  our  Saviour's  priestly  office.  And 
as  the  whole  law,  in  its  ritual,  consisted  chiefly  of 
priestly  ministration ;  then,  if  the  priest  himself  was 
figurative,  his  ministration  was  so  likewise,  and  conse- 
quently the  law  was  a  pattern  of  the  gospel. 

3.  The  things  relating  to  our  Saviour's  person,  that 
is,  to  his  birth,  dignity,  actions,  sufferings,  death,  re- 
surrection and  glorification,  were  foreshewn  in  the 
history  of  other  great  and  remarkable  persons,  who,  in 
the  former  ages  of  the  church,  were  saviours  upon  oc- 
casion to  their  people,  or  examples  of  persecuted  inno- 
cence, truth,  and  holiness,  as  he  was  to  be.  Such  per- 
sons acting,  suffering,  or  triumphing,  in  this  prophetic 
capacity,  are  called  types,   In  the  gospel  they  are  call- 

5 


34  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         {Lect.  2. 

ed  signs  ;  and  as  a  specimen  for  the  present,  we  may- 
take  the  two  characters  of  Jonah  and  Solomon,  as  re- 
ferred to  in  the  11th  chapter  of  St.  Luke.  Our  Saviour* 
proposed  Jonah  to  the  Jews  as  a  sign  of  his  own  fu- 
ture resurrection.  This  prophet  went  down  into  the 
mouth  of  a  monster,  as  Christ  was  to  be  swallowed  up 
like  other  men  by  the  devouring  jaws  of  death.  As 
the  prophet  was  detained  there  three  days,  Christ  was 
so  long  to  be  confined  to  the  sepulchre  :  and  as  Jonah 
was  restored  to  the  light  at  the  Divine  command,  so 
was  Christ  to  rise  again  from  the  dead.  Jonah  was 
therefore  a  sign  of  his  death  and  resurrection,  such  as 
no  words  could  have  delivered ;  for  a  miraculous  fact 
is  best  signified  by  a  miraculous  sign,  which  shews 
us  that  the  thing  was  known  and  determined  before 
it  came  to  pass. 

Such  another  sign  was  Solomon  ;  the  fame  of  whose 
wisdom  brought  the  Queen  of  Sheba  from  a  heathen 
land  to  hear  his  words,  and  wonder  at  the  greatness 
of  his  kingdom,  and  admire  the  order  of  his  govern- 
ment: a  sign  that  the  Gentiles  should  listen  to  the 
word  of  him  that  was  greater  than  Solomon,  and  be 
converted  to  the  laws  and  economy  of  his  spiritual 
kingdom  :  while  the  Jews  should  despise  his  words 
and  persecute  his  church  ;  for  which  the  example  of 
the  Queen  of  Sheba  shall  rise  in  judgment  to  condemn 
them. 

4.  Next  to  the  persons  of  the  prophets  is  the  histo- 
ry of  the  church  at  large;  concerning  which  the  wis- 

*  Matth.  xii.  40. 


Lect.  2.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  35 

dom  of  God  ordained,  that  things  past  should  repre- 
sent things  to  come,  and  serve  as  admonitions  and 
signs  to  the  people  of  God  to  the  end  of  the  world. — 
Hence  it  comes  to  pass,  that  no  scripture  is  of  any 
private  interpretation  ;  its  sense  does  not  end  in  the 
persons  of  whom  it  bpeaks,  but  is  of  public  application 
for  the  benefit  of  all  places  and  of  all  times.  The 
apostle,  speaking  of  some  remarkable  circumstances 
in  the  history  of  the  church,  assures  us,  that  all  those 
things  happened  for  examples,  and  are  written  for  our 
admonition.  The  deliverance  of  the  Hebrews  from 
Egypt  was  a  pledge  of  our  deliverance  from  this  world 
of  sin  and  bondage ;  the  service  of  which  is  perfect 
slavery,  like  that  of  the  Hebrews  under  Pharaoh. 
Their  temptations  in  the  wilderness  were  like  our 
trials  in  the  passage  through  this  mortal  life.  Their 
settlement  in  Canaan  is  an  earnest  to  us,  that  if  we 
commit  ourselves  in  faith  to  the  guidance  of  God,  we 
shall  in  like  manner  obtain  the  promised  inheritance ; 
and  that  without  faith,  we  shall  fall  short  of  it. 

Lastly,  The  actions  of  the  prophets,  and  particular- 
ly of  Christ  himself,  were  figurative  and  prophetical ; 
they  are  therefore  called  signs  as  well  as  miracles,  be- 
cause they  carried  an  instructive  signification,  and 
pointed  to  something  greater  than  themselves.  The 
ways  of  divine  wisdom  are  comprehensive,  and  answer 
many  purposes  at  once.  Our  Saviour  performed 
many  mighty  works,  that  for  the  sake  of  them  men 
might  believe  him  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world ; 
but  then  they  were  withal  of  such  a  sort,  as  to  admit 
of  an  application  to  the  state  of  all  Christians.     We 


36  ON  THE  PIGURATrVE  LANGUAGE  {Iact.  2 

do  not  hear  his  voice,  bidding  us  to  leave  our  compa- 
nions in  the  ship  and  walk  towards  him  upon  the 
water  :  but  all  that  will  come  to  him  must  have  their 
faith  exercised,  as  that  of  Peter  was,  upon  the  waves 
of  this  troublesome  world;  they  must  undertake  a 
hazardous  passage,  in  which  nothing  but  the  power  of 
Christ  can  support  them;  and  if  they  cry  to  him,  the 
same  right  hand,  which  saved  the  fearful  Apostle,  will 
be  stretched  out  to  help  them  in  all  their  dangers  and 
necessities  ;*  and  the  same  goodness  will  be  tender 
toward  their  infirmity  in  the  hour  of  trial ;  reproving 
and  yet  pardoning  the  deficiencies  of  their  faith. 

All  the  miracles  of  Christ  are  after  this  pattern ;  they 
are  signs  of  salvation  in  all  ages,  and  admit  of  a  general 
application  to  every  member  of  the  church,  with  whom 
the  same  miraculous  power  is  still  present,  and  acting 
for  the  highest  purposes,  though  invisible  to  mortal 
sight. 

To  one  or  other  of  these  five  heads,  the  spiritual 
language  of  the  scripture  may  be  reduced,  and  from 
them  the  matter  of  it  is  borrowed :  1.  From  the  images 
of  nature,  or  visible  things  as  representations  of  things 
invisible.  2.  From  the  institutions  of  the  law,  as  pre- 
figuring the  things  of  the  gospel.  3.  From  the  persons 
of  the  prophets,  as  types  of  the  great  Prophet  and  Sa- 
viour that  was  to  come.  4.  From  the  history  of  the 
church  of  Israel  as  an  ensample  to  the  Christian  world. 
5.  From  the  miraculous  acts  of  Moses,  Christ,  and 

*  See  the  Collect  for  the  second  Sunday  after  the  Epiphany 


Lect.  2.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  37 

others,  as  signs  of  the  saving  power  of  God  towards 
the  souls  of  men.  All  these  things  compose  the  figu- 
rative language  of  the  Bible ;  and  that  interpretation 
which  opens  and  applies  them  to  the  objects  of  faith, 
is  called  a  spiritual  interpretation ;  as  being  agreeable 
to  that  testimony  of  Jesus,  which  is  the  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy. 

I  have  been  thus  particular  in  the  division  of  my 
subject,  that  by  understanding  at  the  beginning  what 
my  design  is  in  the  whole,  it  may  always  be  known, 
as  I  proceed  in  it,  what  part  I  am  upon. 

Of  this  figurative  language,  the  elements  first  to  be 
understood  are  those  which  are  borrowed  from  the 
images  of  nature.  And  here  a  vast  field  is  open  to  us, 
as  wide  as  the  world  itself.  If  we  consider  it  in  due 
order,  we  must  begin  with  the  creation  ;  which  is  re- 
lated in  the  book  of  Genesis,  is  a  pattern  of  the  new 
creation  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  is  so  applied  by  the  apos- 
tle :  God  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of 
darkness,  hath  shined  in  our  hearts  to  give  the  light 
oj  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ.*  Till  this  light  shines  in  the  heart  of 
man,  he  is  in  the  same  state  as  the  unformed  world 
was,  when  darkness  lay  upon  the  face  oj  the  deep: 
and  when  the  new  creation  takes  place,  he  rises  in 
baptism,  as  the  new  earth  did  from  the  waters,  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  moving  upon  them. 

The  lights  of  Heaven  in  their  order  are  all  applied  to 
give  us  conceptions  of  God's  power,  and  shew  us  the 

*2  Cor  iv.  6. 


38  OX  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  2. 

glory  of  his  kingdom.  In  the  84th  Psalm,  the  Lord  is 
said  to  be  a  sun  and  a  shield;  a  sun  to  give  light  to  his 
people,  and  a  shield  to  protect  them  from  the  power  of 
darkness.  Christ,  in  the  language  of  the  prophet,  is  the 
Sun  oj  Righteousness,  who,  as  the  natural  sun  revives 
the  grass,  and  renews  the  year,  brings  on  the  acceptable 
year  of  the  Lord,  and  is  the  restorer  of  all  things  in  the 
kingdom  of  grace ;  shining  with  the  new  light  of  life  and 
immortality  to  those  who  once  sat  in  darkness  and  in 
the  shadow  oj  death*  And  the  church  has  warning  to 
receive  him  under  this  glorious  character:  Arise, 
shine,  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
is  risen  upon  thee.*  When  he  was  manifested  to  the 
eyes  of  men,  he  called  himself  the  light  of  the  world, 
and  promised  to  give  the  same  light  to  those  that  fol- 
low him.  In  the  absence  of  Christ,  as  the  personal 
light  of  the  world,  his  place  is  supplied  by  the  light  of 
the  scripture,  which  is  still  a  lamp  to  our  feet  and  a 
light  unto  our  paths.  The  word  of  prophecy  is  as  a 
light  shining  in  a  dark  place  ;  and  as  we  study  by  the 
light  of  a  lamp,  so  we  must  give  heed  to  this  light,  if 
wc  would  see  things  to  come. 

The  moon  is  used  as  an  emblem  of  the  church ; 
which  receives  its  light  from  Christ  as  the  moon  does 
from  the  sun :  therefore  the  renovation  of  the  moon 
signifies  the  renovation  of  the  church ;  as  a  sign  of 
which,  the  new  moons  were  appointed  to  be  observed 
as  religious  festivals  under  the  law ;  and  the  apostle 
tells  us  they  were  a  shadow  of  things  to  come ;  and 

*  Isaiah  lx.  1. 


Lect.  2.J  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  39 

the  substance  of  that  shadow  is  known  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  case,  and  the  relation  which  the  moon  bears 
to  the  sun. 

The  angels  or  ruling  ministers  in  the  seven  churches 
of  Asia  are  signified  in  the  book  of  Revelation  by  se- 
ven stars  in  the  right  hand  of  Christ :  because  his  min- 
isters hold  forth  the  word  of  life,  and  their  light  shines 
before  men  in  this  mortal  state,  as  the  stars  give  light 
to  the  world  in  the  night  season  ;  of  which  light  Chris- 
tians in  general  partake,  and  are  therefore  called  chil- 
dren of  light. 

This  natural  image  of  the  light  is  applied  to  so  many 
great  purposes,  that  I  must  not  dismiss  it  without 
making  some  farther  use  of  it. 

You  see,  our  God  is  light ;  our  Redeemer  is  light ; 
our  scripture  is  light ;  our  whole  religion  is  light ; 
the  ministers  of  it  are  light ;  all  Christain  people  are 
children  of  the  light,  and  have  light  within  them.  If  so, 
what  an  obligation  is  laid  upon  us,  not  to  walk  as  if  we 
were  in  darkness,  but  to  walk  uprightly  as  in  the  day, 
shewing  the  people  of  this  world,  that  we  have  a  better 
rule  to  direct  us  than  they  have.  If  we  who  have  the 
light  walk  as  they  do  who  are  in  darkness,  the  same 
darkness  will  assuredly  come  upon  us ;  we  shall 
understand  nothing,  we  shall  care  for  nothing  ;  the 
light  that  is  within  us  will  be  changed  into  darkness  ; 
and  then,  vanity  and  confusion  will  be  the  conse- 
quence, as  to  those  who  walk  in  the  dark  through  a 
perplexed  and  dangerous  path  :  and  better  would  it  be 
not  to  have  had  the  light,  than  to  be  answerable  for 
the  guilt  of  having  extinguished  it  and  turned  it  into 


40  0JJ' THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  % 

darkness.     This  is  the  moral  doctrine  to  be  derived 
from  the  usage  of  light  in  the  sacred  language. 

Here  I  would  also  observe,  that  the  figures  of  the 
scripture  necessarily  introduce  something  figurative 
into  our  worship;  of  which  I  could  give  you  several 
instances  :  but  I  shall  confine  myself  to  the  matter  now 
before  us.  The  primitive  Christians  signified  their 
relation  to  the  true  light,  and  expressed  a  religious 
regard  to  it,  by  the  outward  form  of  worshipping  with 
their  faces  toward  the  east;  because  there  the  light 
first  arises  out  of  darkness,  and  there  the  day  of  true 
knowledge  arose,  like  the  sun,  upon  such  as  lay  bu- 
ried in  ignorance.  To  this  day  our  churches,  espe- 
cially that  part  which  is  appropriated  to  the  most  so- 
lemn act  of  Christian  worship,  is  placed  toward  the 
east :  our  dead  are  buried  with  their  faces  to  the  east : 
and  when  we  repeat  the  articles  of  our  faith,  we  have 
a  custom  of  turning  ourselves  to  the  east.  The  pri- 
mitive Christians  called  their  baptism  their  illumina- 
tion ;  to  denote  which  a  light  was  put  into  the  hands 
of  the  person  after  baptism,  and  they  were  admitted 
to  hear  the  lectures  of  the  catechists  in  the  church,  un- 
der the  name  of  the  illuminated.  The  festival  of 
Christ's  baptism  was  celebrated  in  the  month  of  Janu- 
ary with  the  ceremony  of  a  number  of  lighted  torches. 
— When  the  converts  repeated  the  confession  of  their 
faith  at  baptism,  they  turned  themselves  to  the  east; 
and  to  the  west  when  they  renounced  the  powers  of 
darkness.  In  the  modern  church  of  Rome  this  cere- 
mony of  worshipping  to  the  east  has  peen  abused,  and 
turned  into  an  act  of  adoration  to  the  altar ;  on  account 


Lect.  2.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  41 

of  which,  some  Christians  who  have  heard  of  the  abuse 
of  this  ceremony,  without  knowing  the  use  of  it,  have 
rejected  that  as  an  act  of  superstition,  whichhas  an  edify. 
ing  sense,  and  was  practised  in  the  days  of  the  apostles, 
before  any  superstition  had  infected  the  church.  As 
such  only  I  would  recommend  it  to  observation.* 

In  the  element  of  air,  which  comes  next  in  order  to 
be  considered,  we  have  a  figure  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which  worketh  imperceptibly  as  it  listeth,  while  we 
cannot  tell  whence  it  cometh,  nor  whither  it  goeth. 
The  operations  of  the  Divine  Spirit  are,  like  those  of 
the  air,  necessary  to  life ;  the  one  to  the  natural  life, 
the  other  to  the  spiritual:  and  as  the  air  gives  the 
breath  of  speech,  so  the  Holy  Ghost  gives  the  utter- 
ance of  inspiration :  therefore  he  descended  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost  under  the  outward  sign  of  a  rushing 
mighty  wind  from  heaven  ;  and  in  consequence  of  it, 
the  apostles  spake  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance ; 
and  their  sound  went  out  into  all  lands. 

*  An  excellent  sermon,  which  ought  never  to  be  forgotten,  and 
which  I  carried  through  the  press,  when  I  was  an  under-graduate 
at  Oxford,  was  published,  on  Christ  the  Light  of  the  World,  from 
a  verse  of  the  19th  Psalm,  by  my  admired,  beloved  and  lament- 
ed friend,  the  late  Rev.  George  Watson,  once  a  fellow  of  Uni- 
versity College,  to  whose  early  instructions  and  examples  I 
have  been  indebted  in  most  of  the  literary  labours  of  my  life. 
Many  extraordinary  men  have  I  seen  ;  but  for  taste  in  classical 
literature  and  all  works  of  genius  ;  for  a  deep  knowledge  of  the 
inspired  writings  ;  for  readiness  of  speech  and  sweetness  of  elo- 
cution ;  for  devout  affection  towards  God,  for  charitable  good- 
ness of  heart,  and  elegance  of  manners,  I  never  met  with  one 
?ha*  exceeded  him- 


■ 


42  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  2. 

The  element  of  water,  which  washes  and  purines 
the  body,  is  used  to  signify  the  inward  cleansing  of  the 
seul  from  sin,  by  the  washing  of  grace  in  baptism : 
and  all  the  purifications  by  water  under  the  law  had 
the  like  meaning ;  as  they  are  applied  in  those  words 
of  the  prophet :  Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon 
you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean,  from  all  your  flthiness, 
and  from  all  your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you :  a  new 
heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put 
within  you.*  This  new  heart  and  new  spirit,  as  the 
work  of  God's  grace,  was  always  signified  by  every 
act  of  religious  purification  ;  according  to  that  of  the 
Psalmist,  Thou  shalt  wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter 
than  snow. — Make  me  a  clean  heart,  0  God,  and  re- 
new a  right  spirit  within  me.\ 

Water  is  used  in  another  capacity  to  quench  the 
thirst;  in  which  sense  it  is  put  for  the  doctrine  of  God's 
word,  refreshing  and  invigorating  the  soul,  as  the  wa- 
ter of  the  spring  gives  new  life  and  strength  to  the 
thirsty.  As  the  spring  breaks  forth  from  the  secret 
treasures  of  the  earth,  the  doctrines  of  salvation  pro- 
ceed from  a  source  which  we  cannot  see.  In  this  sort 
of  language  did  our  Saviour  speak  of  the  grace  of  his 
own  divine  doctrine  to  the  woman  of  Samaria  :  If  thou 
knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  to 
thee,  give  me  to  drink,  thou  wouldst  have  asked  of 
him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee  living  water  ;%  that 

*  Ezekiel  xxxvi.  25.  f  Psalm  Ii. 

}  There  is  a  peculiar  propriety  in  the  scripture  term  of  living 
water  for  the  water  of  a  running  spring;  because  it  brings  with 


Lect.  2.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  43 

is,  the  doctrine  of  salvation  which  he  pitched  to  the 
world,  and  of  which  he  used  these  remarkable  words 
in  the  temple. — He  that  believeth  on  me,  as  the  scrip- 
ture hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  Jloxv  rivers  of  liv- 
ing water  ;  that  is,  the  words  of  his  mouth  shall  con- 
vey that  doctrine  which  giveth  life  to  the  world :  his 
preaching  shall  satisfy  a  multitude  of  souls,  as  the 
stream  of  a  river  is  sufficient  to  the  quenching  of  their 
thirst. 

As  the  elements  of  the  world,  so  the  seasons  of  the 
year  have  their  signification  in  scripture.  The  beau- 
ties of  the  spring  and  summer  are  selected  by  the  pro- 
phet Isaiah,  to  describe  the  perfection  and  felicity  of 
Messiah's  kingdom  at  the  appearance  of  the  gospel : 
when  righteousness  should  spring  up  among  the  bar- 
ren Gentiles,  who  had  been  fruitless  and  deserted  as 
the  earth  when  forsaken  by  the  sun  ;  The  desert  shall 
rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose  ;  it  shall  blossom  abun- 
dantly and  rejoice  even  with  joy  and  singing :  the 
glory  of  Lebanon  shall  be  given  to  it,  the  excellency 
of  Carmel  and  Sharon  ;  they  shall  see  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  excellency  of  our  God.  *  The  season 
of  the  harvest,  which  came  in  at  the  end  of  the  Jewish 
year,  is  applied  in  a  parable  of  our  Saviour  to  the  great 
in-gathering  of  the  world,  when  the  wheat  shall  be 
reaped,  the  tares  shall  be  separated  for  the  fire,  and 


it  a  new  life  and  spirit,  which  it  has  derived  from  the  subterra- 
neous chemistry  of  nature  ;  and  it  is  always  found  to  contain  a 
large  quantity  of  air- 

*  Isaiah  xxxv.  1,  2. 


44  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  2- 

the  labourers  employed  in  that  great  work  shall  be  the 
ministering  spirits  of  God,  sent  forth  to  gather  his 
elect,  and  to  finish  his  kingdom  upon  earth.  The  har- 
vest of  our  Lord,  is  the  end  of  the  -world;  and  as 
surely  as  the  course  of  the  year  brings  us  about  to  that 
season,  so  surely  will  the  dispensation  of  God,  now  on 
its  progress,  bring  us  to  a  sight  of  that  other  harvest : 
and  it  behoves  us  to  consider  well  what  part  we  are 
likely  to  bear  on  that  occasion. 

From  the  seasons  let  us  turn  our  eyes  to  the  animal 
creation  ;  at  the  head  of  which  is  man,  an  epitome  of 
all  the  other  works  of  God. 

The  economy  and  disposition  of  the  human  body 
is  used  as  a  figure  of  that  spiritual  society,  or  corporate 
body,  which  we  call  the  Church  ;  and  God  is  said  to 
have  disposed  the  offices  of  the  one  in  conformity  to  the 
order  observable  in  the  other.  The  head  is  Christ;  the 
eyes  appointed  to  see  for  the  rest  of  the  body,  are  the 
prophets  and  teachers,  anciently  called  seers.  The 
hands  that  minister  are  the  charitable  and  merciful, 
who  delight  in  supplying  the  want  of  their  fellow  mem- 
bers.  The  feet  are  the  inferior  attendants,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  know  their  place,  and  be  subservient  in  their 
proper  callings.  (Each  hath  his  proper  gifts  and  his 
proper  station  ;  and  as  there  is  no  respect  of  persons 
with  God,  no  man  should  pay  any  undue  respect  to 
himself;  but  all  should  unite  with  humility  and  piety 
in  fulfilling  the  great  purpose  of  God,  who  hath  joined 
them  together  in  one  communion.  As  there  is  no  di- 
vision in  the  natural  body,  but  all  the  limbs  and  mem- 
bers have  care  for  one  another,  and  one  life  animates 


Lect.  2.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  45 

them  all ;  so  it  should  be  in  the  church,  v  \here  there 
is  one  body  and  one  spirit.  In  this  form  hath  the  apos- 
tle argued  against  the  divisions  and  jealousies  then  pre- 
vailing in  the  church  of  Corinth  :.*  and  if  his  argument 
was  considered  as  it  merits,  and  in  that  spirit  of  fer- 
vent zeal  and  love  with  which  it  was  written,  there 
would  be  no  such  thing  as  schism  in  the  church,  or 
faction  in  the  state. 

The  bodily  senses  of  men  are  used  to  denote  the 
faculties  of  the  mind :  for  the  soul  has  its  senses  ;  but 
as  we  cannot  see  their  operations,  it  is  necessary  to 
speak  of  them  in  such  terms  as  are  taken  from  the 
visible  powers  of  the  body.  He  that  does  not  under- 
stand the  language  of  the  scripture,  is  said  to  have  no 
ears;  he  that  does  not  see  spiritual  things,  to  have  no 
eyes  ;  he  that  cannot  make  confession  of  his  faith  with 
his  tongue,  and  has  no  delight  in  the  praises  of  God,  is 
dumb.  In  short,  every  unregenerate  man,  who  is  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  God,  and  has  nothing  but  what 
nature  and  his  own  vanity  give  him,  is  in  the  nature 
and  condition  of  a  beggar,  poor  and  blind  and  naked ;\ 
and  he  who  is  not  yet  alive  in  spirit,  is  even  taken  for 
dead  and  buried,  and  is  called  upon  to  arise  from  the 
dead,  and  awake  unto  righteousness. 

The  soul  being  invisible,  its  distempers  are  so; 
therefore  the  sacred  language  describes  them  by  the 
distempers  of  the  body.  A  nation  or  city,  in  a  state 
of  sin  and  impenitence,  are  represented  to  themselves 
as  a  body  full  of  diseases  and  sores.     In  this  style  the 

*  See  1  Cor.  xii.  f  Rev.  iii.  17. 


/pCf  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  2. 

Spirit  speaks  by  the  prophet  Isaiah  of  Judah  and  Jeru- 
salem ;  the  whole  head  is  sick,  and  the  whole  heart 
faint.  From  the  sole  of  the  foot  even  to  the  head, 
from  the  lowest  of  the  people  up  to  their  princes  and 
rulers,  there  is  no  soundness  in  it,  but  wounds  and 
bruises  and  putrifying  sores. — In  the  same  way,  the 
works  of  the  devil  in  stripping  and  abusing  the  nature 
of  man  by  the  fatal  introduction  of  sin,  are  represented 
as  wounds  given  by  a  thief,  who  meets  him  on  the 
road,  and  leaves  him  naked  and  half  dead  upon  the 
earth.  This  is  the  intention  of  that  parable,  which 
describes  the  fall  and  salvation  of  man,  as  the  relieving 
and  curing  of  a  wounded  traveller. 

The  support  of  man's  spiritual  life  is  like  the  sup- 
port of  his  natural ;  and  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  (which  some  of  late  have  taken  great  pains  to 
undervalue  and  misinterpret)  is  built  upon  this  simili- 
tude. 

Man  is  sent  into  the  world  to  earn  his  bread  by  his 
labour,  and  some  think  he  is  sent  for  nothing  else ;  but 
this  is  only  a  shadow  of  his  proper  errand,  which  is,  to 
work  out  his  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling  : 
and  for  this  work  he  has  need  of  sustenance,  as  much 
as  for  the  daily  labours  of  his  life.  Therefore  God  has 
provided  a  supply  of  a  spiritual  kind,  signified  out- 
wardly by  the  figures  of  bread  and  wine,  the  comme- 
morative sacrifice  of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  insti- 
tuted means  of  conveying  the  benefits  of  it  to  the  souls 
of  men. — Beasts  killed  in  sacrifice  were  fed  upon  by 
the  offerers ;  and  Christ's  death  being  a  sacrifice,  he  is 
fed  upon  in  faith  by  those  who  thus  commemorate  his 


Lect.  2.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  47 

death ;  and  the  consequence  is  the  strengtlmiing  and 
refreshing  of  their  souls :  if  not,  this  absurdity  should 
follow  from  the  parallel,  that  eating  the  flesh  of  sacri- 
fices was  a  mere  ceremony  which  contributed  nothing 
to  the  nourishment  of  the  body.  What  can  be  more 
express  than  the  doctrine  of  our  Saviour  himself  upon 
this  subject?  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood 
is  drink  indeed — He  that  eateth  me,  even  he  shall  live 
by  me  ;  that  is,  shall  live  with  a  new  and  divine  life,  as 
really  as  his  body  lives  and  is  nourished  by  his  daily 
bread.  Unless  these  words  do  signify,  that  a  real  prin- 
ciple of  life  and  strength  is  derived  to  us  from  the  body 
of  Christ,  whereof  we  partake,  there  can  be  no  cer- 
tainty in  language,  and  every  doctrine  of  the  scripture 
may  be  thrown  into  doubt  and  obscurity.  Without 
faith,  as  it  hath  already  been  argued  in  the  proper 
place,  the  language  of  the  scripture  never  was  nor  ever 
will  be  admitted  in  its  true  sense :  but  with  it,  it  is 
clear  enough  to  every  reader. 

This  first  head  of  my  subject  is  so  copious,  that  I 
must  conclude  here,  and  defer  what  remains  to  the 
next  Lecture. 


48  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  3. 


LECTURE  III. 


ON  THE  FIGURES  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE  WHICH  ARE  TAKEN 
FROM  NATURE. 

(A  CONTINUATION  OF  THE  FORMER.) 

THE  former  Lecture  would  not  allow  me  room 
to  explain  the  figures  which  the  scripture  hath  bor- 
rowed from  the  natural  world  and  the  objects  of  com- 
mon life;  though  I  determined  to  select  such  of  them 
only  as  might  be  thought  most  important  and  instruc- 
tive; and  even  now,  the  subject  is  so  copious,  that  I 
must  leave  many  which  I  should  be  glad  to  treat  of. 

From  the  consideration  of  the  heavens,  the  elements 
and  the  seasons,  we  descended  to  man,  whose  bodily 
life  is  a  pattern  and  shadow  of  his  spiritual  life,  and  is 
applied  to  illustrate  it  in  many  instances: 

From  his  natural,  we  must  now  go  forward  to  his 
social,  civil,  or  political  life,  as  a  citizen,  subject,  and 
member  of  society ;  together  with  his  worldly  condi- 
tion, relations,  offices,  and  occupations. 

The  spiritual  state,  or  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  repre- 
sented to  us  under  the  emblem  of  an  earthly  kingdom, 
iw  which  God  is  the  Supreme  Governor  and  Judge, 


Lect.  3.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  49 

ruling  all  his  creatures  with  infinite  power,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  laws  of  justice,  goodness,  and  mercy. 

The  church  is  a  spiritual  kingdom  under  Christ  its 
head  ;  and  its  ministers  are  ambassadors,  commission- 
ed to  treat  with  the  world,  and  propose  terms  of  recon- 
ciliation from  God,  with  whom  they  are  by  nature  at 
enmity.  St.  Paul,  having  occasion  to  speak  of  his  com- 
mission under  Jesus  Christ,  saith,  For  whom  I  am  an 
ambassador  in  bonds.  This  was  a  strange  case  ;  and  he 
mentions  it  as  such  ;  because  the  persons  of  ambassa- 
dors were  accounted  sacred,  and  it  was  against  the  law 
of  the  nations  to  do  any  violence  to  them  :  but  the 
world,  while  it  keeps  good  faith  with  itself,  keeps 
none  with  God.  Our  blessed  Saviour,  as  Pilate  truly 
entitled  him  upon  the  Cross,  was  the  King  of  the  Jervs, 
though  not  after  the  form  and  authority  of  worldly 
kingdoms  ;  and  as  such  had  a  claim  to  the  allegiance 
of  his  subjects.  Their  rebellious  treatment  of  him  and 
his  ambassadors  is  represented  in  the  parable  of  the 
marriage  of  the  king's  son ;  *  whose  invitation  they  re, 
jected,  and  abused  his  servants.  In  consequence  of  this 
his  armies  were  sent  out,  to  do  execution  upon  them 
as  murtherers,  and  burn  up  their  city  :  all  of  which 
was  fulfilled  upon  the  apostate  Jews,  and  their  city  Je- 
rusalem :  and  having  rejected  him,  they  are  to  this 
day  without  a  king,  without  laws,  without  a  country. 

There  is  another  parable  of  the  same  kind,  which 
admits  of  a  more  general  application,  and  comes  home 
to  ourselves.     Christ  ascending  into  heaven,  there  to 

*  Matth.  xxii. 


50  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  3. 

receive  all  power,  and  return  invested  with  it  to  the 
general  judgment,  is  signified  under  the  person  of  a 
nobleman  who  went  into  a  far  country,  to  receive  for 
himself  a  kingdom  and  to  return — But  his  citizens 
hated  him,  and  sent  a  message  after  him  saying,  We 
will  not  have  this  man  to  reign  over  us.*  Thus  inso- 
lently and  ungratefully  doth  a  wicked  world  treat  the 
authority  of  Christ  in  his  absence:  but  he  shall  return; 
and  then  the  authority  they  will  not  admit  for  their  good, 
will  be  turned  to  their  destruction — Those  mine  ene- 
mies which  would  not  that  I  should  reign  over  them 
bring  hither  and  slay  them  before  me.  Not  all  the 
power  upon  earth  can  hinder  the  execution  of  this 
command — bring  them  hither — wherever  these  offen- 
ders shall  then  be,  they  will  all  be  found  ;  even  the  grave 
shall  not  hide  them,  and  the  dust  shall  not  cover  them  ; 
but  the  ministers  of  vengeanc .'  will  drag  them  forth, 
and  present  them  before  that  king  whom  they  hated  and 
affronted.  Some  there  are,  who  send  their  message 
after  him  in  terms  of  open  treason  and  defiance  ;  while 
others  explain  away  the  sense  and  authority  of  his  king- 
dom with  subtilties  of  logic  and  a  mask  of  piety.  But 
let  them  speak  or  reason  as  they  please,  the  proudest  of 
them  all  are  under  the  power  of  Jesus  Christ :  those 
who  do  not  allow  of  his  spiritual  authority  in  his  king- 
dom the  church,  are  still  within  the  reach  of  his  justice. 
Happiest  are  they,  in  whose  hearts  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  established  according  to  those  words  which  were 
spoken  of  it — the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you  ;  and 

■  Luke  xix.  12. 


Lect.3.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  £j 

who  can  pray  daily,  as  they  are  commanded,  that  his 
kingdom  may  come ;  that  it  may  prevail  over  our  affec- 
tions, and  direct  all  our  doings  till  at  length  it  shall  be 
manifested  over  all,  and  the  King  himself  shall  appear 
in  his  glory. 

The  judgment  passed  by  the  magistrate  in  this  world 
against  crimes  is  founded  on  the  law  of  God,  and  is 
an  administration  of  his  justice  for.the  time  being  ;  an 
earnest  of  that  more  equal  and  perfect  administration 
which  is  to  come.  Every  tribunal  before  which  cri- 
minals are  summoned  is  a  prelude  to  the  day  of  doom, 
when  the  judgment  shall  sit,  and  the  dead  small  and 
great  shall  stand  before  God,  and  the  dead  shall  be 
judged  out  of  those  things  that  are  written.  This  may 
seem  distant  to  us  now,  in  our  blind  way  of  consider- 
ing things  ;  but  in  the  language  of  the  scripture  it  is 
otherwise  :  Behold,  saith  St.  James,  the  judge  standeth 
before  the  door,  ready  to  enter,  and  to  bring  every  se- 
cret work,  and  every  neglected  and  perverted  cause, 
into  judgment. 

Other  figures  of  the  scripture  are  taken  from  the 
state  in  which  mankind  are  engaged  under  the  dangers 
of  war.  As  men  are  troubled  with  violence  and  treach- 
ery from  one  another  ;  so  is  there  another  warfare  more 
hazardous,  to  which  all  Christians  are  enlisted  under 
the  Captain  of  their  salvation,  against  enemies  whom 
no  man  can  see ;  active,  subtle,  vigilant,  malignant 
spirit ;  for,  we  wrestle  not  against  jiesh  and  blood, 
but  against  principalities  and  powers.  As  men  pre- 
pare for  an  earthly  war,  so  are  we  to  prepare  ourselves 
that  we  may  stand  in  the  evil  day :  we  are  to  put  on 


52  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  IANGUAGE  {Lect.  3. 

the  whole  armour  of  God,  as  the  apostle  hath  described 
it;  we  are  to  take  the  shield  of  faith,  the  sword  of 
God's  word,  the  helmet  of  salvation  ;  and  to  pray  that 
we  may  be  inspired  with  fortitude,  and  assisted  in  the 
use  of  them.  We  have  treachery  as  well  as  force  to  guard 
against.  There  are  deceitful  lusts  which  assume  the 
mask  of  pleasure,  while  they  are  warring  against  the 
soul,  as  it  were  by  sap,  to  undermine  and  destroy  it. 

No  man  can  use  a  sword  with  skill,  but  he  who  hath 
been  instructed  in  the  art  of  defence,  and  hath  practised 
it  long :  so  can  no  man  handle  the  word  of  God  aright, 
that  sword  of  the  spirit,  but  he  that  has  studied  it  dili- 
gently. With  unskilful  handling  by  the  ignorant,  or 
the  ill  disposed,  it  may  wound  ourselves,  and  our 
friends,  like  a  sword  in  the  hands  of  a  child  or  a  mad- 
man. 

Amongst  the  occupations  of  men,  the  chief  is  that 
of  husbandry  ;  and,  it  will  afford  us  much  instruction. 
As  the  field  is  the  subject  of  men's  labour,  so  man 
himself  is  a  field  under  the  cultivation  of  God:  Ye  are 
God's  husbandry,  saith  the  apostle.  All  the  particulars 
in  the  course  of  husbandry  are  fulfilled  in  our  hearts. 
For  as  the  ground  is  broken  and  cleared,  so  is  the  heart 
to  be  prepared  by  repentance  :  whence  the  prophet  Ho- 
sea  thus  calls  upon  the  people  ;  Break  up  your  fallow 
ground,  for  it  is  time  to  seek  the  Lord.  In  the  para- 
ble of  the  sower,  the  seed  is  the  word  of  God,  quick  and 
powerful  with  the  principles  of  life  ;  and  the  different 
kinds  of  soil  denote  the  various  dispositions  with  which 
men  receive  the  word  of  God  ;  some  few  into  an 
Ironest  and  good  heart ;  many  more  into  hearts  open  as 


Lsct.  3.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  53 

the  common  high  way  to  the  lust  of  the  world  and  the 
visits  of  Satan ;  and  as  such  people  understand  nothing 
spiritual,  they  immediately  lose  what  they  receive. 
Some,  whose  minds  are  shallow,  cannot  retain  it,  as 
not  having  depth  enough  for  the  word  to  be  rooted, 
so  as  to  withstand  trials  and  temptations,  signified  by 
the  scorching  heat  of  the  sun  upon  a  stoney  soil. 
Some  are  so  full  of  care  and  business,  that  the  word 
can  no  more  thrive,  than  seed  among  thorns  and 
thistles. 

I  would  propose  this  parable  of  the  sower  as  a  spe- 
cimen of  the  excellence  of  that  figurative  mode  of  in- 
struction so  constantly  pursued  throughout  the  scrip- 
ture. See  how  much  doctrine,  enough  to  fill  a  volume, 
is  here  comprehended  in  how  few  words  ;  in  a  form 
striking  to  the  imagination,  and  plain  to  every  capacity ! 

Another  sort  of  husbandry,  not  so  familiar  to  us  in 
this  climate,  is  the  cultivation  of  the  vineyards.  In 
countries  nearer  to  the  sun,  vines  are  cultivated  in  the 
fields,  and  employ  many  hands  to  plant  and 
dress  them,  and  gather  their  fruit.  In  the  5th  chapter 
of  Isaiah  there  is  a  mystical  song,  which  considers 
the  church  of  Israel  as  the  vineyard  of  God,  planted 
in  a  fruitful  situation  on  the  holy  hill  of  Sion,  clear- 
ed, fenced  and  guarded,  and  furnished  with  every 
thing  that  could  render  it  complete  and  keep  it  in  its 
perfection.  Instead  of  good  fruit  it  produced  wild 
grapes,  as  bad  as  if  it  had  been  left  without  cultivation. 
For  this,  its  hedge  was  to  be  taken  away,  and  it  was 
to  be  eaten  up  ;  that  is,  the  heathens  round  about  it 
were  to  be  let  in  upon  it  to  devour  it,  and  it  was  to  be 


54  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  & 

trodden  down  :  no  rain  was  to  fall  upon  it ;  the  blessing 
of  divine  grace  from  heaven  was  to  be  withheld  ;  and 
thorns  and  briars,  all  sorts  of  wicked  people,  un- 
der the  figure  of  every  worthless,  troublesome  and 
accursed  plant,  were  to  prevail  in  it. 

In  the  80th  psalm,  the  spoiling  of  the  church  is  la- 
mented under  the  same  image.  It  is  described  as  a 
vine  brought  out  of  Egypt  by  the  hand  of  God,  to  be 
rooted  in  Canaan ;  from  whence  the  heathens  were 
cast  out  to  make  room  for  it,  as  the  ground  is  cleared 
of  stones  and  rubbish  for  a  new  plantation.  But  for 
its  unfruithilness,  the  boar  out  of  the  wood  laid  it 
waste,  and  the  wild  beast  of  the  field  devoured  it. 
Such  ever  was  and  ever  will  be  the  fate  of  the  church: 
when  it  becomes  degenerate,  and  unworthy  of  the 
hand  that  planted  it,  the  world  is  let  in  upon  it ;  who 
are  as  eager  to  plunder,  lay  it  waste,  and  trample  it 
down,  as  the  swine  to  root  up  the  ground  and  destroy 
a  plantation. 

In  the  New  Testament,  the  members  of  the  church 
are  considered  more  particularly  as  branches  of  Christ: 
/  am  the  true  vine,  says  he,  and  my  Father  is  the  hus- 
bandman: as  the  branches  of  the  vine  are  dressed,  so 
are  the  members  of  Christ  under  the  discipline  of  God  : 
correction  is  as  necessary  to  them  as  the  pruning-knife 
to  the  vine  ;  and  as  the  branches  bear  no  fruit  but  as 
they  belong  to  the  tree,  so  can  no  member  of  the  church 
bring  forth  any  fruit  but  by  abiding  in  Christ ;  for 
■without  him  we  can  do  nothing.  The  unprofitable 
branch,  that  bears  no  fruit,  is  taken  away  from  the 
tree  to  be  burned ;  and  the  fruitless  Christian  must 


Lect.  3.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  55 

expect  to  be  cast  forth  in  like  manner,  and  then  ga- 
thered up  for  the  fire. 

The  offices  of  men  are  applied  to  the  same  purpose 
as  their  occupations.  God  is  pleased  to  take  upon 
•  himself  the  office  of  a  shepherd,  and  his  people  are  re- 
lated to  him  as  a  flock. — Two  of  the  psalms  are  com- 
posed upon  this  plan  ;  expressing  the  reliance  of  be- 
lievers on  the  pastoral  care  of  God,  and  their  joy  and 
thankfulness  to  him  for  admitting  them  to  such  an 
honourable  relation  :  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  there- 
fore can  I  lack  nothing  ;  he  shall  feed  me  in  a  green 
pasture,  and  lead  me  jorth  beside  the  waters  oj  com- 
fort. Such  is  the  language  of  the  23d  psalm.  The 
100th  psalm  is  an  invitation  to  a  solemn  act  of  thanks- 
giving, with  songs  and  instruments  of  music  in  the 
temple.  The  people  of  all  the  nations  being  admitted 
into  the  flock  of  Israel  as  the  sheep  of  God's  pasture, 
ought  to  assemble  within  the  fold  of  his  church,  for 
the  public  celebration  of  his  truth  and  mercy.  The 
obligation  is  particular  and  special  upon  Christians, 
since  our  Lord  appeared  personally  to  men  in  this 
character ;  verifying  that  prediction  of  the  prophet,  he 
shall  feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd,  he  shall  gather  the 
lambs  with  his  arm,  and  carry  them  in  his  bosom.  To 
every  act  of  care  and  kindness  proper  to  a  shepherd 
did  he  condescend :  he  took  the  little  children  up  in 
his  arms,  and  blessed  them  ;  he  went  about  seeking 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel ;  he  collected  to- 
gether and  ordered  the  fold  of  his  church ;  he  has  ap- 
pointed other  shepherds  under  him  to  take  the  charge 
of  his  flock,  and  is  with  them  as  the  chief  shepherd  to 


56  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLict.  3. 

the  end  of  the  world,  when  he  shall  still  appear  and 
act  in  the  same  character,  separating  the  sheep  from 
the  goats  in  the  day  of  judgment. 

All  the  natural  relations  subsisting  amongst  mankind 
are  applied  to  illustrate  their  spiritual  interests.  God 
is  our  heavenly  Father,  of  whom  the  whole  family  in 
heaven  and  earth  is  named;  the  Church  is  the  daughter 
of  God  ;  the  spouse  of  Christ,  and  the  mother  of  us  all. 
Christ  is  the  first-born,  and  all  Christians  are  brethren 
in  him ;  constituting  together  what  is  called  the  house- 
hold of  faith,  as  distinguished  from  the  world  of  unbe- 
lievers. The  Jew  and  Gentile  are  two  brethren,  the 
sons  of  their  father ;  the  Jew  the  elder,  the  Gentile  the 
younger,  whose  apostacy  and  repentance  are  both  de- 
scribed in  the  history  of  the  prodigal  son. 

The  union  betwixt  Christ  and  the  Church  is  consi- 
dered as  a  marriage,  signified  and  fore-shewn  by  the 
first  sacred  union  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  paradise.  The 
followers  and  friends  of  Christ  are  now  waiting  in  ex- 
pectation of  being  called  forth  to  meet  this  bridegroom, 
and  join  in  the  glorious  procession  that  shall  ascend,  un- 
der the  conduct  of  a  train  of  angels,  to  meet  the  Lord  in 
the  air,  when  he  shall  return  from  the  wedding  :  with 
which  expectation  they  are  to  keep  their  loins  girded 
up,  and  their  lights  burning.  Woe  be  unto  the  foolish 
whose  lamps  shall  be  gone  out  when  the  cry  shall  be 
raised  at  midnight,  Behold  the  bridegroom  cometh,  go 
ye  out  to  meet  him. 

As  the  author  of  our  faith,  Christ  is  our  master 
or  teacher  ;  and  that  in  so  strict  a  sense,  that  we  are  to 
call  no  other  by  that  name  in  comparison  of  him; 


Lect.  3.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  57 

much  less  are  we  to  receive  any  other  form  of  doctrine, 
from  those  who  assume  a  right  of  teaching  on  the  au- 
thority of  any  other  person,  or  by  any  other  rule,  which 
the  fashion  of  the  times  or  the  prejudices  of  education 
may  have  established  amongst  us. 

This  relation  betwixt  the  master  and  the  scholar 
must  suggest  to  every  Christian  the  indispensable  duty 
of  knowing  the  scriptures,  and  following  the  precepts 
of  the  gospel.  For,  let  us  ask  ourselves :  are  we  the 
scholars  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  are  we  ignorant  of  his  doc- 
trine ?  Do  we  pay  no  regard  to  his  discipline,  and  the 
rules  he  has  given  for  the  conduct  of  life  ?  And  shall 
we  not  in  such  a  case  be  disowned  and  expelled  from 
his  society  ?  If  we  know  nothing  of  him,  he  will  know 
nothing  of  us,  and  will  signify  the  same  to  us  upon  an 
awful  occasion — Depart  from  me,  I  know  you  not. 

Having  thus  far  shewn  how  the  nature,  state,  works, 
offices,  and  relations  of  mankind  are  applied,  and  how 
the  scripture  reasons  from  them,  as  from  so  many  pa- 
rallel cases  ;  I  shall  now  consider  what  use  is  made  of 
the  inferior  part  of  the  animal  creation.  And  here  you 
are  to  recollect,  that  beasts  differ  from  one  another  as 
men  do,  the  sober  from  the  sottish,  the  gentle  from  the 
ravenous,  the  trusty  from  the  thievish,  the  peaceable 
and  obedient  from  the  blood-thirsty  and  rebellious  : 
and  as  the  scripture  expresses  all  things  by  similitude, 
the  properties  and  qualities  of  beasts  are  examples  of 
virtues  and  vices  amongst  men.  This  moral  difference 
was  the  ground  of  the  distinction  of  beasts  under  the  law 
of  Moses  into  clean  and  unclean.  The  people  of  GocJ 
were  to  eat  of  no  unclean  creature;  they  were  to  con- 

8 


58  °tf  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  3. 

verse  with  no  unclean  man ;  and  so  the  first  effect  of 
this  law  was  of  a  civil  nature,  to  keep  the  Jews  separate 
from  the  conversation  of  other  nations,  that  they  might 
not  learn  their  works.  They  could  not  eat  with  them 
and  consequently  could  not  keep  company  with  them ; 
and  this  law  has  the  same  effect  to  this  day  with  the 
modern  Jews.  The  second  intention  of  it  was  of  a 
moral  or  spiritual  kind ;  to  suggest  a  figurative  lesson 
of  purity,  obedience,  and  patience,  from  the  various 
instincts  of  animals. 

Read  the  11th  chapter  of  Leviticus,  and  you  will 
see  how  the  creatures  are  distinguished.     The  gentle, 
tame,  and  profitable  kinds  are  allowed  for  food ;  and 
all  creatures  of  wild,  fierce,  or  filthy  manners,  are  for- 
bidden.    Thus  the  Israelites  were  reminded  daily  by 
what  they  ate,  what  manner  of  persons  they  ought  to  be 
in  all  hoi}-  conversation  and  godliness;  by  what  was  for- 
bidden, they  were  taught  to  abhor  the  vices  of  the  hea- 
then.    So  saith  the  law  itself:    Ye  shall  not  walk  in 
the  manners  of  the  nations  which  I  cast  out  before  you 
— lam  the  Lord  your  God,  which  have  separated  you 
from  other  people  ;  ye  shall  therefore  put  a  difference 
between  clean  beasts  and  unclean,  and  between  unclean 
fowls  and  clean — and  ye  shall  be  holy  unto  me  ;for  I 
the  Lord  am  holy,  and  have  severed  you  from  other 
people  that  ye  should  be  mine.*     This  passage  puts 
the  moral   intention  of  the  distinction  of  meats  out  of 
dispute,  and  is  indeed  a  direct  affirmation  of  it :  the 
people  of  God  were  to  avoid  unclean  meats,  as  a  sign 

'  Lev.  xx.  23,  &.C. 


Lbct.  3.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  59 

that  he  had  separated  them  from  unclean  Gentiles  to  be 
holy  unto  himself. 

But  in  the  fullness  of  time,  when  the  Gentiles  were 
to  be  admitted  to  Christian  baptism,  and  taken  into  the 
church  with  the  Jews,  this  act  of  grace  in  the  divine 
economy  was  signified  to  St.  Peter,  by  a  new  licence 
to  feed  upon  unclean  beasts.  The  case  was  this  :  — 
Peter  was  about  to  be  invited  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
Cornelius  a  Roman,  into  whose  house  he  could  not 
come;  because  the  law  which  he  had  always  observed 
commanded  the  Jews  to  keep  themselves  separate  from 
heathens  in  their  conversation ;  as,  in  their  diet,  they 
abstained  from  unclean  beasts. 

While  this  matter  was  depending,  Peter  fell  into  a 
trance,  and  saw  a  vision.  A  great  sheet,  knit  at  the 
four  corners,  was  let  down  to  the  earth,  containing  all 
those  living  creatures  which  were  forbidden  food  by 
the  Levitical  law,  and  he  was  commanded  to  kill  and 
eat :  to  which,  when  he  objected,  as  being  contrary  to 
the  law,  a  voice  said,  what  God  hath  cleansed,  that  call 
not  thou  common.  The  message  from  Cornelius 
which  immediately  followed,  shewed  the  design  of 
this  vision ;  that  it  signified  the  reception  and  cleansing 
of  the  Gentile  world,  and  that  the  Jews  were  no  longer 
to  count  them  unclean.  So  Peter  himself  thus  ex- 
plained it  when  he  visited  Cornelius  :  Ye  know  how 
that  it  is  an  unlawful  thing  for  a  man  that  is  a  Jew  to 
keep  company  or  come  unto  one  of  another  nation  ; 
but  God  hath  shevjed  me  that  1  should  not  call  any 
man  common  or  unclean.  Therefore  those  living  crea- 
tures of  all  kinds,  which  had  been  presented  to  him  in 


50  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  3. 

the  vision,  were  the  people  of  all  nations ;  the  linen 
sheet  which  contained  them  signified  their  sanctifica- 
tion  by  the  gospel ;  and  it  was  knit  at  four  corners,  to 
shew  that  they  were  gathered  together  from  the  four 
quarters  of  the  world,  and  brought  into  the  church. 

Nothing  more  need  be  said  to  prove  that  the  distinc- 
tions amongst  men  were  figuratively  expressed  under 
the  law  by  a  distinction  among  beasts  and  birds  and 
ail  living  creatures.  In  the  subtilty  of  the  fox,  the 
fierceness  of  the  tyger,  the  filthiness  of  the  swine, 
the  impudence  of  the  dog,  you  see,  as  in  a  glass,  the 
manner  of  those  idolatrous  nations,  from  whom  the 
Jews  were  separated.  In  the  gentleness  of  the  sheep, 
the  integrity  of  the  labouring  ox,  the  innocence  and 
profitableness  of  other  tame  creatures  fit  for  food,  you 
see  the  virtues  of  an  Israelite  indeed,  such  as  those 
people  ought  to  be,  who  were  gathered  into  the  folds 
of  the  church,  and  had  God  for  their  shepherd.  But 
when  God  had  mercy  upon  all,  and  the  Jew  and  Gen- 
tile  became  one  fold  in  Christ  Jesus,  then  this  distinc- 
tion was  set  aside.  However,  to  all  readers  of  the  Bi- 
ble, the  moral  or  spirit  of  this  law  is  as  much  in  force 
as  ever.  Wild,  subtle,  fierce,  unclean  manners,  are 
as  hateful  in  Christians,  as  they  were  of  old  in  heathens  : 
and  the  heathens  were  taken  into  the  church,  on  con- 
dition that  they  should  put  off  their  savage  manners  ; 
as  the  unclean  creatures  had  before  put  off  their  natures 
and  became  tame,  when  they  were  admitted  into  the 
ark  of  Noah,  a  figure  of  the  church.  This  change 
was  again  to  happen  under  the  gospel ;  and  the  prophet 
foretels  the  conversion  of  the  heathens  under  the  figure 


Lect.  3.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  g^ 

of  a  miraculous  reformation  of  manners  in  wild  beasts  : 
The  -wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard 
shall  lie  down  with  the  kid,  and  the  calf  and  the  lion 
and  the  fading  together  ;  and  though  they  were  once 
so  fierce  and  terrible  that  a  man  dared  not  to  come 
near  them,  they  shall  be  so  changed,  that  a  little  child 
may  lead  them — they  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all 
my  holy  mountain. 

Authors  of  natural  history  divide  their  subject  into 
three  parts,  under  the  heads  of  animals,  plants,  and 
minerals — I  would  follow  the  same  order,  to  keep  my 
subject  within  a  moderate  compass. 

Plants  are  applied  to  explain  the  growth  of  the  mind, 
with  its  different  qualities  and  productions.  Thus 
preached  John  the  Baptist :  The  axe  is  laid  unto  the 
root  of  the  trees  ;  therefore  every  tree  which  beareth 
not  good  fruit  is  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire. 
At  the  transgressions  of  former  times  God  had  wink- 
ed, and  suffered  men  to  walk  in  their  own  ways ;  but 
now  the  serious  day  of  reformation  was  come,  and 
men  were  commanded  to  repent,  or  to  look  for  speedy 
execution  ;  which  accordingly  came  upon  the  unbe- 
lieving Jews,  who  did  not  take  the  Baptist's  warning. 
The  axe  was  sharp  ;  and  the  hand  that  held  it  being 
just  and  irresistible,  it  soon  laid  them  level  with  the 
ground. 

In  the  first  Psalm,  the  righteous  man  is  described  as 
a  tree  flourishing  by  the  water  side,  and  bringing  forth 
its  fruit  in  due  season.  Such  is  he  whom  the  grace 
of  God  attends,  and  whose  delight  is  in  meditation  day 
and  night  upon  the  law  of  the  Lord ;  while  the  ungod- 


62  °N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         {Lect.  3. 

ly  are,  like  unprofitable  chaff,  driven  away  by  the  wind. 
No  fruitless  tree  will  be  permitted  to  remain  in  the  plan- 
tation of  God,  nor  be  able  to  stand  when  the  storm  of 
judgment  arises. — Christians  who  do  not  persevere, 
but  fall  away  into  a  sinful  and  unprofitable  life,  are 
compared  to  trees  whose  fruit  withereth,  twice  dead, 
plucked  up  by  the  roots :  dead  once  by  nature,  and 
dead  again  unto  grace,  after  they  had  been  revived 
by  the  reception  of  the  gospel :  of  such  there  is  no 
hope. 

The  transitory  nature  of  man  in  this  mortal  life  is 
shewn  by  the  herbs  of  the  field  ;  and  the  scripture 
draws  this  picture  with  such  beauty  as  far  surpasses 
the  most  laboured  poetical  elegies  on  mortality — In 
the  morning  it  is  green  and  grow eth  up  ;  hi  the  even- 
ing it  is  cut  down  dried  up  and  withered.* — ill flesh 
is  grass  and  all  the  goodliness  thereof  is  as  the  flower 
of  the  field: — the  grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth  ; 
but  the  word  of  our  God  shall  stand  for  ever. \  In  their 
decay,  the  herbs  of  the  field  are  patterns  of  man's 
mortality  ;  but  in  the  order  of  their  growth,  from  seeds 
dead  and  buried,  they  give  a  natural  testimony  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection ;  and  the  apostle  therefore 
speaks  of  bodies  rising  from  the  dead  as  of  so  many 
seeds  springing  from  the  ground.  The  prophet  Isaiah 
speaks  as  expressly  upon  the  same  subject :  thy  dead 
men  shall  live,  together  with  my  dead  body  shall  they 
arise :  awake  and  sing  ye  that  dwell  in  the  dust :  for 


Psalm  xc.  f  Isaiah  xl.  6. 


Lect.  3.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  53 

thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth  shall 
cast  out  her  dead.* 

Much  instruction  is  to  be  gathered  from  the  trea- 
sures which  men  take  (with  other  views)  from  beneath 
the  earth :  for  perishable  riches  are  figures  of  the  true 
riches,  which  give  in  substance  what  the  other  give  in 
shadow: — these  are  the  riches  of  the  mind;  and 
though  of  little  esteem  with  the  generality  of  the  world, 
they  are  yet  of  infinite  value  to  those  that  possess  them. 
The  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  were  poor  in  appearance, 
but  could  boast  of  being  able  to  make  many  rich  in 
faith  and  knowledge.  The  gifts  of  God  to  the  mind 
represented  in  one  of  the  parables  as  so  many  talents  of 
money,  entrusted  to  men  by  the  Lord  of  all  things, 
with  which  they  are  to  traffic  in  this  state  of  probation, 
and  improve  them  to  the  best  of  their  power.  He 
who  makes  no  improvement  will  lose  what  he  has  got, 
and  then  he  is  poor  indeed. 

In  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  the  four  monarchies  of 
the  world  were  signified  by  the  chief  metals  which 
are  taken  from  the  earth,  all  united  in  that  visionary 
image  which  appeared  to  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  head 
of  gold  meant  the  Assyrian  monarchy ;  the  breast  of 
silver  was  the  Persian  ;  the  brazen  part  was  the  Gre- 
cian ;  and  the  legs  and  feet  of  iron  and  clay  were  the 
Roman*  The  last  was  inferior  to  all  the  rest  in  qua- 
lity, but  exceeded  them  in  strength,  as  iron  breaks  all 
other  things  in  pieces.  The  kingdom  of  Christ,  aris- 
ing in  the  time  of  the  fourth  monarchy,  is  meant  by 

*  Isaiah  xxvi.  19 


64  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  3 

the  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain,  (that  is,  out  of  the 
church)  without  hands,  to  smite  this  mighty  image  of 
worldly  power  upon  the  feet,  and  overthrow  it.  Ac- 
cordingly, as  Christianity  grew  stronger,  the  Roman 
empire  declined,  and  was  soon  reduced  nearly  to  the 
state  in  which  we  now  see  it.* 

We  have  taken  a  review  of  the  natural  creation,  so 
far  as  the  compass  of  these  Lectures  will  permit,  and 
have  seen  how  the  scripture  has  applied  the  several 
parts  of  it  for  the  increase  of  our  faith  and  the  improve- 
ment of  our  understandings.  Thus  we  are  taught 
how  to  make  the  best  and  the  wisest  use  to  which  this 
world  can  be  applied.  The  Creator  himself  hath  made 
this  use  of  it,  in  revealing  his  will  by  it,  and  referring 
man  to  it  for  instruction  from  the  beginning.  For  this 
use  he  intended  it  when  it  was  made ;  and  without 
such  an  intention,  there  never  could  have  been  such  an 
universal  agreement  between  nature  and  revelation. 

In  this  use  of  the  world  men  differ  from  brutes, 
who  can  see  it  only  with  the  eyes  of  the  body,  and  can 
apply  it  to  nothing  but  the  gratification  of  the  appe- 
tites. The  ambitious  and  the  covetous  are  wasting 
their  time  to  gain  as  much  as  they  can  of  it,  without 
knowing  what  it  is ;  as  children  covet  new  books  for 
the  pictures  and  the  gilding,  without  having  sense  to 
improve  by  what  is  within  them.     To  those  who  con. 


*The  reader  may  see  the  three  kingdoms  of  plants,  animals, 
and  minerals,  considered  more  at  large  in  Three  Discourses 
preached  at  Fairchild's  Lecture,  by  the  author  of  thin  work. 


Lect.  3.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^5 

sider  only  how  the  creation  can  furnish  matter  to  their 
lusts  and  passions,  it  is  no  better  than  a  vain  shadow : 
but  to  those  who  take  it  rightly,  it  is  a  shadow  ot 
heavenly  things ;  a  school  in  which  God  is  a  teacher  ; 
and  all  the  objects  of  sense  in  heaven  and  earth,  and 
under  the  earth,  are  as  the  letters  of  an  universal  lan- 
guage, in  which  all  nations  have  a  common  interest. 
There  was  an  opinion,  (I  should  rather  call  it  a  tra- 
dition) amongst  some  heathen  philosophers,  that  the 
world  is  a  parable,  the  literal  or  bodily  part  of  which 
is  manifest  to  all  men,  while  the  inward  meaning  is 
hidden,  as  the  soul  in  the  body,  the  moral  in  the  fable 
or  the  interpretation  in  the  parable.*  They  had  heard 


*  E|f5<  yctg  mi  7«v  Koo-fiov  MT0ON  etirstv  Tuy,x\uv  fitv  kxi  %gyf*.x- 
"\xv  ev  xvjai  (pxivofMVW,  t]/v%6iv  <Je  x.xi  voav  y.£VTr}ofjLivwv.  Sallust.  Tlegt 
9sm.    cap.  3. 

KoTf&ov  S'e  ctvSis  lov  ftev  votflov  othv  jj  (ixgSxgos  <PiMfo@icc,  7ev  $e 
eurS-tflov  7ov  f*,tv  xt>%,z1virov,  lov  £e  uy.ovx  ?S  zxteptevX  7rxgxhey/!*,xlo<;. 
Kxi  %v    pev   etvx}i6tie-i    Movxh,  &><;   ctv  voyflov  lov  $~e    xtG-$y\ov  Ejrxo^t. 

Clem.  Alex.  Strom.  Lib.  5.  p.  412. 

"  We  may  call  the  world  a  fable,  or  parable  ;  in  which  there 
c*  is  an  outward  appearance  of  visible  things,  with  an  inward 
".sense  which  is  hidden  as  the  soul  under  the  body. 

"  There  is  a  barbarous  philosophy,  (£.  e.  a  foreign  philoso- 
"  phy)  which  hath  a  knowledge  of  the  sensible  and  the  intelledu- 
"  al  worlds ;  the  one  being  the  archetype  or  original,  the  other 
"  an  image  or  copy  of  it.  It  compares  the  intellectual  to  unity, 
"  and  the  sensible  to  the  number  six." 

This  barbarous  philosophy,  so  called  by  Plato,  whose  doctrine 
is  here  repeated  by  Clements  Alexandrinus,  was  no  where  to  be 
found  but  in  the  Bible ;  which  in  its  week  of  days,  has  a  single 
day,  the  Sabbath,  answering  to  the  divine  rest  of  the  invisible 

9 


65  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  3. 

there  was  such  a  thing  ;  but  to  us  the  whole  secret  is 
open,  by  the  scripture  accommodating  all  nature  to 
things  spiritual  and  intellectual ;  and  whoever  sees  this 
plan  with  an  unprejudiced  mind,  will  not  only  be  in  a 
way  to  understand  the  Bible,  but  he  will  want  no  other 
evidence  of  the  Christian  doctrines. 


world,  and  six  days  allotted  to  the  works  of  this  present  world. 
Nothing  bat  the  Mosaic  cosmogony,  which  describes  the  crea- 
tion of  the  natural  world  in  six  days,  and  makes  one  heavenly 
day  of  the  Sabbath,  could  be  the  original  of  this  philosophy 
mentioned  by  Plato. 

That  certain  characteristics  of  divine  truth  are  legible  in  the 
works  and  ways  of  nature,  is  no  new  doctrine.  It  hath  been 
supposed  by  some,  and  lightly  touched  upon  by  others ;  but 
never  pursued  (as  I  have  found)  to  any  good  effect.  The 
two  preceding  Lectures  give  some  little  prospect  of  it  as  it 
stands  in  scattered  passages  of  the  scripture.  But  I  am  so 
much  affected  to  the  plan,  that  I  have  drawn  out  two  Lectures 
upon  it,  under  the  title  of  the  Natural  Evidences  of  the  Chris- 
tian Religion,  not  yet  published. 


Lect.4.|  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES, 


LECTURE  IV 


ON  THE  ARTIFICIAL  OR  INSTITUTED  FIGURES  OF  THE 
LAW  OF  MOSES. 

NEXT  in  order  to  those  figures  of  the  scripture 
which  may  be  called  natural,  as  being  taken  from  na- 
ture, we  are  to  examine  those  which  are  borrowed 
from  the  institutions  of  the  law,  and  may  be  called 
artificial,  as  being  ordained  and  accommodated  to  this 
purpose  by  the  Lawgiver  himself. 

The  chief  ordinances  of  the  law  are  referred  to  in 
the  prophets,  the  psalms,  and  the  New  Testament, 
and  many  passages  are  cited  from  thence  and  treated 
of  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  which  will  serve  as  a  key 
to  the  language  of  the  law,  and  shew  us  the  intention 
of  its  ceremonies  and  precepts. 

St.  Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  gives  us 
this  general  idea  of  the  law,  that  it  had  a  shadow  of 
good  things  to  come;*  by  which  he  means  to  teach  us, 
that  it  was  in  its  ordinances  a  figure  of  the  blessings 
of  the  gospeL  It  was,  as  a  shadow  is,  just  and  descrip- 


Heb.  x,  I. 


68  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  4. 

tive  in  its  lineaments,  but  it  had  in  itself  neither  sub- 
stance nor  life.  When  the  gospel  refers  us  to  the  law, 
it  refers  us  to  a  shadow  of  itself;  and  such  references 
will  necessarily  be  figurative  and  want  an  interpreta- 
tion ;  of  which  I  shall  now  proceed  to  give  some  ex- 
amples. 

Among  the  institutions  of  the  law,  the  first  place 
is  due  to  its  sacrifices  and  priesthood  ;  and  the  first 
and  greatest  sacrifice  of  which  we  have  any  particular 
description  is  that  of  the  passover.  From  this  die  apos- 
tle instructs  us  in  the  benefits  of  Christ's  death,  to- 
gether with  the  qualifications  necessary  to  a  participa- 
tion of  them  ;  and  in  so  doing  he  uses  the  terms  of  the 
institution  itself;  Christ  our  passover  is  sacrificed  for 
us.*  This  expression  carries  us  back  to  the  cause 
and  end  for  which  the  passover  was  instituted  ;  and  it 
appears  from  this  reference  of  the  apostle,  1.  That 
Christ  is  what  the  passover  was,  a  lamb  taken  from 
the  flock  of  his  people.  2.  That  he  was  a  sacrifice, 
put  to  death  as  an  offering  to  God.  3.  That  this  was 
done  for  us,  for  our  redemption  and  deliverance  from 
the  divine  wrath  ;  as  the  passover  was  sacrificed  for  the 
redemption  of  the  Hebrews,  when  the  first-born  of 
Egypt  were  destroyed. 

All  this  is  comprehended  in  the  use  the  apostle  has 
made  of  those  terms  :  and  this  will  be  still  plainer,  if 
we  attend  to  the  particulars.  For  the  character  of  our 
blessed  Saviour  was  answerable  in  all  respects  to  that 

*  1  Cor.  v.  7. 


Lect.  4.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  69 

of  the  paschal  lamb:  he  was  without  blemish,  innocent 
and  perfect  in  his  nature;  and,  as  the  prophet  describes 
him,  like  the  lamb  when  brought  to  the  slaughter,* 
meek  and  unresisting.  When  John  the  Baptist  point- 
ed out  Jesus  to  the  Jews  as  the  Messiah,  he  chose  to 
do  it  in  these  words,  Behold  the  lamb  of  God;\  see 
and  acknowledge  the  true  passover  which  God  him- 
self hath  provided,  not  for  the  deliverance  of  a  single 
nation,  but  to  take  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  What- 
ever the  law  had  ordained  concerning  the  offering  of 
lambs  in  the  passover,  and  in  the  daily  sacrifices  of  the 
morning  and  evening,  all  is  explained  in  this  short 
reference  of  John  the  Baptist,  applying  the  sacrifices 
of  the  law  to  the  true  lamb  of  God.  In  the  same  gos- 
pel of  St.  John  we  find  another  remarkable  allusion  to 
the  institution  of  the  passover.  From  the  circumstance 
which  happened  at  our  Saviour's  death,  that  his  legs 
were  not  broken  with  those  of  the  two  malefactors,  the 
evangelist  observes,  these  things  were  done  that  the 
scripture  should  be  fulfilled,  a  bone  of  him  shall  not  be 
broken  ;  at  which  passage  the  margin  of  our  best  edi- 
tions of  the  Bible  refers  us  to  Exodus  xii.  46,  where 
this  direction  is  given  concerning  the  passover,  neither 
shall  ye  break  a  bone  thereof 

If  we  look  to  the  design  or  occasion  of  his  sacri- 
fice, we  find  it  the  same  in  effect  with  that  of  the  pass- 
over  :  for  as  that  was  slain  for  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt, 
so  was  He  sacrificed  for  us.     The  first-born  of  Israel 


*  Isaiah  liii.  7.  +  John  i.  29. 


70  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  [Lect.  4» 

would  have  been  destroyed  with  those  of  Egypt,  but 
for  the  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb  upon  the  doors  of 
their  houses ;  and  we  also  who  are,  as  the  Hebrews 
were,  in  a  land  of  bondage,  among  sinful  people  devo- 
ted to  destruction,  shall  not  escape  the  divine  wrath  in 
that  night  when  the  destroyer  shall  be  sent  out,  but  in 
virtue  of  the  true  passover:  therefore  we  are  said  to  have 
redemption  through  his  blood.  The  term  redemption, 
as  applied  to  the  salvation  of  sinners  by  Jesus  Christ,  is 
taken  in  a  figurative  sense.  It  signifies  literally  the  re- 
lease of  a  captive  or  guilty  person,  in  consideration  of 
something  accepted  in  lieu  of  him.  All  men  are  in  a 
state  of  forfeiture,  sold  under  sin,  and  captives  of  Satan: 
out  of  which  condition,  they  are  not  redeemed  with 
silver  and  gold,  as  common  captives,  but  with  the  pre- 
cious blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and 
without  spot ;  that  is,  as  the  Hebrews  were  in  Egypt 
by  the  blood  of  the  passover. 

The  frame  of  mind  in  which  we  are  to  celebrate  the 
Christian  passover,  is  described  to  us  in  terms  borrow- 
ed from  the  Jewish ;  this  feast  we  are  to  keep  with  the 
unleavened  bread  of  sincerity  and  truth;  free  from  all 
impure  mixtures  of  worldly  affections,  pharisaical  pride, 
hypocrisy,  and  false  doctrine.  To  which  those  other 
descriptive  ceremonies  may  be  added,  of  having  our 
loins  girded,  our  shoes  on  our  feet,  and  our  staves  in 
our  hands;  in  the  garb  and  posture  of  pilgrims,  soon 
to  depart  from  the  Egypt  of  this  world. 

Some  other  forms  with  which  sacrifices  were  offered 
are  of  great  account,  and  will  explain  to  us  the  sense 
of  many  passages  not  otherwise  to  be   understood. 


Lect.  4.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^j 

Christ  as  our  substitute,  is  said  to  have  borne  our 
griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows ;  and  the  Lord  is  said 
to  have  hid  on. him  the  iniquities  of  us  all.*  Accor- 
ding to  the  form  prescribed  in  the  law,  when  a  sacri- 
fice was  brought  to  the  priest,  it  was  the  custom  for  the 
sinner,  or  the  congregation  at  large, f  as  the  occasion 
might  require,  to  lay  their  hands  upon  the  head  of  the 
victim,  and  confess  their  sins  upon  it,  which  the  inno- 
cent animal  about  to  die  was  to  bear  for  them ;  and 
the  sins  so  transferred  from  the  sinner  to  the  offering 
were  to  be  done  away.  This  shews  us  what  was 
meant  by  the  prophet,  when  he  said,  the  Lord  hath 
laid  on  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all;  that  is,  he  hath 
laid  upon  the  head  of  Christ,  as  upon  a  devoted  sacri- 
fice, the  sins  of  all  mankind. 

In  the  case  of  what  was  called  the  scape-goat, %  the 
animal,  with  this  burden  of  sin  upon  his  head,  was 
turned  loose  into  a  wilderness,  into  a  land  not  inhabi- 
ted, no  more  to  be  seen  of  men  :  with  allusion  to  which 
it  is  said  in  Psalms,  As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the 
•west,  so  far  hath  he  set  our  sins  from  us,  \  no  more 
to  be  remembered  or  heard  of  to  our  condemnation. 
There  seems  to  be  another  reference  to  the  same  in 
those  words  of  Jer.  1.  20,  "  the  iniquity  of  Isreal  sha^l 
"  be  sought  for,  and  there  shall  be  none ;  and  the  sins 
"  of  Judah,  and  they  shall  not  be  found." 


*  Isaiah  liii.  4,  6. 

f  The  elders  of  the  congregation  (see  Lev.  iv.  15,)  or  the 
high-priest  in  the  name  of  the  congregation.  (See  Lev.  xvi.  24.) 
\  Lev.  xvi.  22.  §  Psalm  ciii.  12. 


72  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  4. 

On  one  particular  occasion,  the  congregation  were 
commanded  to  lay  their  hands  upon  the  head  of  the 
guilty  person,  before  he  was  carried  out  to  execution  : 
which  ceremony  explains  what  is  said  of  those  for 
whom  no  atonement  was  to  be  accepted,  that  they 
should  bear  their  iniquity;  they  should  suffer  for  it 
themselves  and  be  their  own  sacrifices.  So  again, 
where  it  is  said,  his  blood  shall  be  upon  his  head,*  it 
means,  that  the  person  in  this  case  should  be  answera- 
ble for  the  guilt  of  his  own  death.  And  when  the 
Jews  blasphemously  cried  out,  his  blood  be  on  us,  and 
on  our  children,  they  meant,  that  whatever  sin  there 
might  be  in  putting  Jesus  to  death,  they  would  venture 
to  have  the  guilt  of  it  laid  upon  the  heads  of  themselves 
and  their  posterity,  and  atone  for  it  in  their  own  per- 
sons ;  which  they  have  accordingly,  by  the  just  judg- 
ment of  God,  been  doing  ever  since. 

This  laying  of  sin  upon  the  head  of  a  sacrifice,  gives 
us  a  farther  understanding  of  what  happened  to  Christ 
in  his  passion,  when  the  curse  of  our  sins  was  crush- 
ed with  heavy  and  merciless  hands  upon  his  head, 
in  the  form  of  a  crown  of  thorns  ;  under  which  afflic- 
ting burden  he  was  duly  prepared  as  an  offering  for 
sin.  Hence  also  we  see  the  meaning  of  a  like  form 
which  has  a  contrary  intention ;  for  as  the  curse  of 
guilt  was  laid  on  the  head  of  a  sacrifice  ;  so  blessings 
of  every  kind  are  conveyed  by  the  laying  of  hands  on 
the  heads  of  the  persons  who  are  appointed  to  receive 
them.      Thus  our  Saviour  took   the  little  children 


*  Joshua  ii.  19. 


Lbct.  4}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  73 

into  his  arms,  and  when  he  blessed  them  he  laid  his 
hands  upon  them:  thus  also  the  sick  were  restored  to 
the  blessings  of  health  ;  and  thus  the  ministers  of  God 
receive  their  commission,  with  the  gifts  necessary  to 
the  exercise  of  it :  Stir  up  the  gift  of  God,  saith  Paul 
to  Timothy,  -which  is  in  thee  by  the  putting  on  of  my 
hands.* 

When  Christ  is  said  to  be  a  priest,  we  must  un- 
derstand the  word  in  a  new  sense ;  for  certainly  he 
was  not  a  priest  in  a  literal  sense,  neither  could  he 
officiate  according  to  the  forms  of  the  law,  because  he- 
was  not  of  that  tribe  to  which  the  priesthood  pertained. 
He  is  therefore  called  a  priest  after  the  order  of  Mel- 
chizedec,  whose  priesthood  was  prior  and  superior  to 
that  of  the  Levitical  order,  and  carried  with  it  the 
administration  of  bread  and  wine,\  after  the  form  of 
the  gospel  itself.  Yet  still  we  must  go  to  the  Levi- 
tical law,  for  the  nature  of  the  office,  and  the  proper 
character  of  our  high  priest.  Such  an  high  priest 
became  us,  saith  the  author  of  the  epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, who  is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from 
sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the  lieavens.%  Such 
an  high  priest  as  the  law  had  in  all  respects,  according 
to  the  letter  ;  such  ought  we  to  have  in  the  spirit ;  one 
in  whom  all  the  outward  sign  of  holiness  and  perfec- 
tion requisite  to  the  high  priesthood  of  the  law  should  be 
inwardly  verified  and  accomplished  ;  with  no  blemish 
of  nature,  no  defilement  of  sin  sanctified  by  an  eternal 
consecration,  and  exalted  to  execute  that  office  in  the 


*  2  Tim.  i.  6.         f  Gen.  xiv.  1 8.         \  Heb.  vii.  26. 
10 


74  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  4. 

heaven  itself,  which  the  high  priest  performed  yearly 
in  the  most  holy  place  of  the  tabernacles.  Even 
the  clothing  of  the  high  priest  was  not  without  its 
signification  ;  his  garments  were  expressive  of  purity, 
sanctity,  and  divinity  itself :  they  are  therefore  called 
holy  garments  /*  and  there  is  a  reference  to  them 
in  the  Psalms  which  gives  them  this  meaning,  let  thy 
priests  be  clothed  with  righteousness  ;\  let  them  be  in 
spirit  and  truth  what  their  clothing  outwardly  signifies: 
The  fine  white  linen  worn  by  the  priest  is  here  applied 
in  its  emblematical  capacity  to  spiritual  sanctification; 
and  it  is  thus  interpreted  for  us  in  the  Revelation  ;  the 
fine  linen  is  the  righteousness  of  saints.^  The  sense 
of  this  is  still  preserved  amongst  us,  with  those  who 
understand  it  right ;  it  being  the  custom  for  a  bride  to 
go  to  her  marriage  in  white,  as  a  testimony  of  her  vir- 
gin state  ;  and  they  who  minister  in  the  church,  either 
to  serve,  or  to  pray,  or  to  sing,  are  clothed  in  white 
linen,  to  signify  the  purity  which  is  proper  to  their 
calling,  and  should  be  found  in  their  characters. 
The  evangelists,  in  their  accounts  of  our  Saviour's 
transfiguration,  are  all  of  them  very  particular  as 
to  that  one  circumstance,  that  his  raiment  xvas  white 
as  the  light.  This  divine  splendor  of  his  person  was 
denoted  by  the  splendor  of  high  priest's  garments, 
which  are  said  to  have  been  appointed  for  glory  and  for 
beauty;  such  beauty  as  is  applied  in  the  Psmlms  to  its 
proper  sense,  the  beauty  oj  holiness.)  This  clothing 
of  light  was  proper  to  an  earthly  high  priest,  only  in 


*  Exodus  xxviii.  2.  f  Psalm  exxxii.  9. 

\  Rev.  xix.  8.  6  Psalm  xcvi.  9» 


Lect.  4.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  75 

consideration  of  his  being  a  representative  of  that  di- 
vine intercessor,  who  was  to  be  the  glory  as  well  as 
the  priest  of  his  people  Israel. 

Such  dignity  hath  God  been  pleased  to  grant  to  his 
ministers ;  not  for  their  own  sakes,  but  from  the  rela- 
tion to  Jesus  Christ.  As  the  Jews  shewed  all  reverence 
to  their  high  priest,  much  more  ought  we  to  ours, 
and  to  all  that  act  in  his  name,  for  his  sake  :  and  they 
who  think  meanly  of  the  priesthood,  or  speak  of  it  with 
contempt,  as  some  of  malice,  and  some  of  ignorance, 
shall  one  day  see  heaven  and  earth  fly  away  from  before 
the  face  of  a  priest. 

When  the  name  of  a  priest  is  applied  to  Christ  in  the 
New  Testament,  we  understand  the  term  in  a  figura- 
tive sense,  and  go  to  the  law  for  its  literal  meaning;  be- 
cause Christ  did  not  serve  at  the  altar,  nor  officiate  in 
the  temple,  nor  was  of  the  family  of  the  priesthood. 
Whereas  in  truth,  he  was  the  original,  and  they  of  the 
law  were  figures  of  him.  Had  it  not  been  for  his 
priesthood  fore -ordained  of  God,  there  never  had  been 
such  a  thing  as  a  priest  in  the  world.  Why  was  one 
man  appointed  to  intercede  for  another  ?• — Where  can 
be  the  sense  and  reason  of  it?  For  why  cannot  that  man 
as  well  intercede  for  himself?  It  was  to  shew  that  there 
should  be  in  the  fulness  of  time  one  to  intercede  effec- 
tually for  all :  and  that  this  great  intercessor  should  be 
taken  Jrotn  among  men,  like  the  other  priests  who  were 
before  him  :  this  is  the  true  reason  why  some  men  in 
preference  to  others  were  admitted  to  intercede ;  though 
still  on  a  level  with  the  rest,  and  obliged  to  offer  sacri- 
fices for  their  own  sins. 

In  one  respect  we  are  to  this  day  in  the  state  of  the 


76  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         JLect.  4. 

Jewish  people.  They  could  not  offer  their  own  sa- 
crifices ;  they  were  to  bring  them  to  the  priest,  and  he 
was  to  offer  them.  So  cannot  we  now  offer  up  our 
prayers  and  praises  to  God  but  by  Jesus  Christ; 
and  so  the  apostle  applies  the  case  for  us  :  By  him 
therefore  let  us  offer  the  sacrifice  of  praise  to  God 
continually ,  that  is,  the  fruit  of  our  lips,  giving  thanks 
to  his  name.  Yea  and  even  under  the  law,  while  the 
earthly  high  priest  served,  as  a  shadow,  to  present  the 
offerings  of  the  people  to  God,  it  was  understood  by 
the  prophets  that  he  was  no  more  than  a  shadow,  and 
that  there  was  another  divine  priest  to  whom  the  office 
properly  belonged.  For  who  is  he  that  saith  in  the 
16th  Psalm,  their  drink-offerings  of  blood  will  I  not 
offer,  nor  make  mention  of  their  names  within  my  lips? 
David  was  no  priest ;  and  though  he  was  a  king,  he 
could  offer  no  sacrifice  either  for  himself  or  for  others. 
The  passage  refers  to  the  impure  and  unsanctified  of- 
ferings of  the  heathens  who  went  after  other  gods  ; 
yet  he,  who  refuses  to  offer  these,  must  be  the  person 
whose  office  it  is  to  present  to  God,  as  the  common 
intercessor,  the  offerings  of  all  men  :  for  the  speaker 
here  is  the  same  as  in  the  10th  verse,  where  the 
same  priest  saith,  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell, 
nor  suffer  thy  holy  one  to  see  corruption  ;  which  words 
are  expressly  said  to  have  been  spoken  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ:  as  the  next  words  are  of  his  exaltation. 
Thou  wilt  shew  me  the  path  of  life:  in  thy  presence  is 
the  fulness  of  joy,  and  at  thy  right  hand  there  is  plea- 
sure for  evermore :  for  certainly  this  place  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  is  the  place  of  the  Son  of  God,  which  he 


Lect.  4.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  77 

assumed  when  he  ascended  into  heaven :  this  was  the 
joy  which  the  prophets  and  the  psalms  had  set  before 
him,  for  which  he  endured  the  cross  and  despised  the 
shame  of  it.  This  is  the  priest  who  saith  all  these 
things :  it  was  therefore  declared  to  those  who  were 
under  the  law,  that  there  was  another  high  priest, 
above  him  that  ministered  in  the  tabernacle  or  temple 
by  whose  invisible  ministration  the  offerings  of  men 
were  to  be  presented  and  made  acceptable  to  God. 
So  plain  and  direct  is  the  doctrine  of  this  psalm,  that 
St.  Peter,  by  an  application  of  it  to  the  person  of  Christ, 
converted  three  thousand  souls  at  once. 

As  the  words  of  the  apostle  above-mentioned,  rela- 
ting to  the  priesthood  of  Christ,  are  spoken  with  refer- 
ence to  the  figures  and  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, it  must  have  been  declared  therein  that  we  should 
have  a  priest  higher  than  the  heavens :  for  that  such  an 
one  became  us,  inasmuch  as  every  other  would  have  fallen 
short  of  what  the  scripture  had  testified  by  propheti- 
cal signs  and  prophetical  words ;  some  of  which  I  am 
now  to  set  before  you. 

Melchizedec  was  a  sign  of  the  priesthood  of  Christ: 
being  not  only  priest  of  the  most  high  God,  but  also  a 
king,  a  person  of  royal  majesty,  and  indignity  superior 
to  the  greatest  man  upon  earth,  because  he  blessed  the 
father  of  the  faithful ;  and  the  less  is  blessed  of  the 
greater.  It  follows  therefore  from  this  character 
of  Melchizedec,  that  to  the  holiness  of  the  priest- 
hood there  should  be  added  in  the  person  of  Christ  the 
majesty  of  a  king ;  even  of  such  a  king  as  should  have 
a  throne  in  heaven  itself.     For  thus  is  this  priest  spo- 


78  °tf  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  4. 

ken  of  in  the  110th  psalm:  The  Lord  said  unto  my 
Lord,  sit  thou  at  my  right  hand:  and  in  the  subsequent 
verses  of  the  psalm  the  same  person  is  spoken  un- 
to as  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedec  : 
therefore  the  scripture,  under  the  old  covenant,  gave  no- 
tice of  a  priest  who  should  sit  at  the  right  hand  oi  God ; 
and  should  of  consequence  be  higher  than  the  heavens. 
The  argument  from  this  psalm  is  very  clear  ;  but  what 
the  scripture  hath  said  on  the  character  and  priesthood 
of  Melchizedec  is  so  important,  and  withal  so  myste- 
rious, that  the  apostle  hath  a  long  and  critical  discourse 
upon  it  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrew ;  of  which  he  him- 
self gives  us  this  as  the  sum:  We  have  such  an  high 
priest,  who  is  set  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of 
the  Majesty  in  the  heavens. 

The  intercession  of  Christ  as  a  priest  in  heaven  was 
sig*  ified  yearly  in  the  service  of  the  tabernacle,  when 
the  high  priest  went  on  the  great  day  of  atonement 
into  the  inner  tabernacle  or  holy  of  holies  with  the 
blood  of  a  sacrifice.  From  whence  the  same  apostle 
argues,  that  Christ  as  our  high  priest  should  enter,  not 
into  the  holy  places  made  with  hands,  which  are  the 
figures  of  the  true,  but  into  heaven  itself  now  to  ap- 
pear in  the  presence  of  God  for  us.*  The  holy  place 
of  the  tabernacle  is  applied  in  the  same  manner  to  the 
residence  of  God  in  the  invisible  heavens  in  the  24th 
psalm:  Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord  ? 
or  who  shall  stand  in  his  holy  place  ?  he  that  hath  clean 
hands,  he.  this  may  allude  to  the  ceremony  prescribed 


*  Heb.  ix.  24. 


Lect.  4.J  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  79 

for  the  high  priest  to  wash  himself  with  water*  before 
he  entered  the  holy  place.  Then  follows  a  description 
of  the  majectic  ascension  and  entrance  of  the  king  oj 
glory  into  the  everlasting  doors  of  the  heavenly  places  ; 
and  this  psalm  is  accordingly  appointed  by  the  church 
as  one  of  the  proper  psalms  for  the  feast  of  the  ascen- 
sion. A  sign  was  given  that  the  heavenly  places  were 
opened,  for  himself  first  and  for  all  believers  after 
him,  in  consequence  of  his  overcoming  the  sharp- 
ness of  death.  The  vail  of  the  temple  by  which  the 
holy  place  was  separated  from  the  worldly  sanctuary,  or 
first  tabernacle,  was  rent  miraculously  at  his  crucifix- 
ion, and  that  figure  of  the  heaven  was  laid  open,  into 
which  none  but  the  high  priest  might  enter  :  which  cir- 
cumstance is  thus  applied  for  us  in  the  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews :  Having  therefore,  brethren  boldness  to 
enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new 
and  living  way,  which  he  hath  consecrated  for  us 
through  the  vail,  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh  ;  and  having 
an  high  priest  over  the  house  of  God;  let  us  draw  near 
with  a  true  heart  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  having 
our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  and  our 
bodies  washed  with  pure  water. f  These  last  words 
allude  as  the  correspondent  ones  before  in  the  24th 
Psalm,  to  the  custom  of  the  high  priest  washing  his 
flesh  with  water,  before  he  was  permitted  to  enter  into 
the  holy  place  :  which  ceremony  is  applied  in  the  psalm 
to  the  purity  of  the  great  high  priest  himself;  but  in 
the  language  of  the  apostle  with  equal  propriety  to  all 

*  See  Lev.,  xvi.  4.  f  Heb,  x.  22,  &c. 


80  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  4. 

Christians,  who  are  to  partake  of  the  benefits  of  his 
ministration  in  heaven,  and  to  follow  a  pure  high  priest 
with  purity  of  conscience. 

Another  rite  pertaining  to  the  priesthood,  and  of 
great  signification  in  the  scripture,  is  that  of  the  high 
priest's  consecration  with  the  anointing  oil :  a  sign  of 
grace  and  authority  from  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  in 
virtue  of  this  anointing,  the  high  priest  had  power  to 
heal  the  leprosy  and  other  unclean  diseases,*  that  the 
parties  so  cleansed  might  be  fit  to  attend  upon  the  ser- 
vice of  the  sanctuary,  for  which  they  were  disqualified 
and  in  a  state  of  excommunication, f  so  long  as  their 
uncleanness  lasted.  Thus  in  the  New  Testament  we 
read,  that  Jesus  was  anointed  of  God  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  with  power  ;  in  consequence  of  which  he 
went  about  doing  good,  and  healing  all  that  were  op- 
pressed of  the  devil,  for  God  was  with  him.  J  A  le- 
per, who  had  faith  in  his  power,  came  and  worshipped 
him,  saying,  Lord,  if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me 
clean.  When  this  man  was  cleansed  of  his  leprosy,  he 
was  commanded  to  shew  himself  to  the  priest,  and  to 
make  the  accustomed  offering,  for  a  testimony  unto 
them :  and  as  it  was  the  office  of  the  priest  to  cure  this 
disease,  this  cure  was  a  legal  proof  and  testimony  to 
the  priesthood  of  the  time,  that  there  was  a  greater 
than  themselves  amongst  them ;  who,  though  not  li- 
terally anointed  to  the  ministry,  had  the  true  anointing 
from  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  had  descended  upon 
him  after  his  baptism  :  and  who  should  supersede  them 

*Lev.  xiv.  11.        f  Lev.  xv.  31.        \  Acts  x.  38. 


Lict.  4.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  3^ 

in  their  office  :  but  it  cloth  not  appear  what  inference 
they  made  from  the  case. 

As  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  was  communicated  at  the 
anointing  of  the  high  priest,  and  the  Spirit  is  the  au- 
thor of  love  and  unity  to  the  church,  who  are  to  pre- 
serve the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,  we 
find  a  beautiful  allusion,  with  an  application  of  this 
rite  to  its  mystical  sense,  in  the  ]  33d  Psalm  ;  Behold 
how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  to- 
gether in  unity:  it  is  like  the  precious  ointment  upon  the 
head,  that  ran  down  unto  the  beard,  even  unto  Aaron's 
beard,  and  went  down  to  the  skirts  of  his  garments. 
It  was  always  an  undoubted  truth  in  every  state  of  the 
church,  that  unity  is  from  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  beginning 
in  those  of  superior  authority,  and  spreading  itself  with 
a  progress  of  descent  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest 
members  of  the  community  :  but  the  thing  is  most 
evident  to  us  under  the  gospel ;  who  are  taught,  that 
the  church  is  the  body  of  Christ ;  that  he  himself  is 
the  head  of  it ;  and  that  the  Divine  Spirit  first  shed 
upon  him,  is  from  thence  diffused  to  all  orders  of  Chris- 
tians, to  the  least  and  lowest  members  of  the  church. 

The  scripture  has  numberless  other  references  to 
the  sacrifices  and  priesthood  of  the  law,  more  than  the 
plan  of  these  lectures  will  admit :  for  I  do  not  under- 
take to  explain  all  that  is  referred  to  in  the  law  :  my 
meaning  is  to  shew,  by  several  examples,  in  what  man- 
ner the  scripture  itself  applies  the  institutions  of  the 
law  :  and  by  so  doing,  I  put  a  light  into  the  hands  of 
those  who  read  the  Bible,  with  which  they  may  go 
farther  and  examine  things   for    themselves.       Yet, 

11 


g2  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.4. 

among  the  offerings  of  the  tabernacle  and  temple,  there 
are  two  more  for  which  I  shall  have  room  in  this  dis- 
course ;  I  mean  the  first-fruits  and  the  burning  of  in. 
cense. 

In  1  Cor.  xv.  Christ,  as  risen  from  the  dead,  is  call- 
ed the  first-fruits  ;  but  now,  saith  St.  Paul,  is  Christ 
risen  from  the  dead,  and  become  the  first  Jruits  of  them 
that  slept.  From  the  terms  thus  applied  he  confirms, 
and  opens  in  a  wonderful  manner,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Resurrection  ;  and  therefore  it  is  proper  we  should 
have  a  right  understanding  of  it.  When  the  harvest 
was  ripe  and  ready  for  the  sickle,  a  first  sheaf  was  reaped 
and  carried  into  the  temple,  where  the  priest  waved  it 
before  the  Lord  to  be  accepted ;  and  till  this  was  done 
the  rest  of  the  harvest  was  not  sanctified  to  the  use  of 
the  people,  nor  had  they  any  right  to  partake  of  it. 

The  use  the  apostle  makes  of  this  is  very  extensive. 
In  the  first  place,  the  growing  of  grain  from  the  earth 
where  it  was  buried,  is  an  exact  image  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  :  for  as  the  one  is  sown,  so  is  the 
other,  and  neither  is  quickened,  except  it  first  die  and 
be  buried.  Then  the  whole  harvest,  from  its  relation 
to  the  first-fruits  explains  and  ensures  the  order  of 
our  resurrection.  For,  is  the  sheaf  of  the  first-fruits 
reaped  ?  Then  is  the  whole  harvest  ready.  Is  Christ 
risen  from  the  dead  ?  Then  shall  all  rise  in  like  man- 
ner. Is  he  accepted  of  God  as  an  holy  offering,  and 
lifted  up  in  his  heavenly  sanctuary  ?  Then  shall  every 
sheaf  that  has  grown  lip  with  him  be  taken  from  the 
earth  and  sanctified  in  its  proper  order ;  Christ  the  first 
fruits,  afterwards  they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  com- 
ing. 


Lect.4.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  gn 

If  there  seems  any  impropriety  in  making  Christ 
the  first-fruits,  when  we  know  that  others  were  raised 
to  life  before  him  ;  as  the  Shunamite's  son  by  Elisha, 
and  Lazarus  by  Christ  himself  :  it  is  to  be  observed, 
that  they  were  raised;  he  only  rose  from  the  dead  by 
his  own  power,  as  the  grain  springeth  from  the  ground 
of  itself.  Besides,  though  they  were  raised,  they  died 
again ;  but  Christ,  being  raised  from  the  dead  dieth  no 
more>  death  hath  no  more  dominion  over  him  :  He  was 
the  first  who  rose  to  life  eternal.  Nothing  followed 
to  mankind  from  the  resurrection  of  others ;  but  he 
sanctified  the,  harvest  of  the  whole  field,  and  had  the 
efficacy  as  well  as  the  appearance  of  the  first-fruits. 

Saint  Paul,  in  his  apology  before  Agrippa,  pleaded 
in  defence  of  his  doctrine,  that  he  said  none  other  things 
than  those  -which  the  prophets  and  Moses  did  say 
should  come  ;  that  Christ  should  suffer  *  and  that  he 
should  be  the  first  that  should  rise  from  the  dead. 
Now  these  things,  are  no  where  said  by  Moses  in  the 
letter  :  therefore  they  were  foretold  figuratively  and  in 
the  spirit.  Christ,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Moses, 
was  to  suffer  in  the  passover,  and  to  rise  again  in  the 
first-fruits  of  the  harvest.  And  as  this  assertion  of 
the  apostle  shews  us  the  style  and  manner  in  which 
Moses  preached  the  gospel,  it  is  of  great  importance 
to  us  in  our  present  enquiry. 

The  other  offering,  which  I  proposed  to  speak  of,  is 
that  of  the  daily  incense.  Morning  and  evening  it  was  to 
be  offered  up  upon  an  altar  of  gold  where  no  bloody 

*  Acts  xxvi.  22. 


34  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  4. 

sacrifice  was  to  come.  *  This  offering  the  Psalmist  re- 
fers to  in  his  devotions,  and  explains  its  meaning  by  his 
application  of  it :  Let  my  prayer  be  set  forth  in  thy 
sight  as  the  incense.  As  the  smoke  and  odour  of  this  of- 
fering was  wafted  into  the  holy  place,  close  by  the  veil 
of  which  stood  the  altar  of  incense;  so  do  the  prayers 
of  the  faithful  ascend  upwards  and  find  admission  into 
the  highest  heaven.  Cornelius,  said  the  angel,  thy 
prayers  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God.\ 
The  prayer  of  faith  is  acceptable  to  God,  as  the  fra- 
grance of  incense  is  agreeable  to  the  senses  of  man  :  and 
as  the  incense  was  offered  twice  a  day,  in  the  morning 
and  evening,  the  spirit  of  this  service  is  to  be  kept  up  at 
those  times  throughout  all  generations.  The  prophet 
Malachi  foretold  that  it  should  be  observed  throughout 
the  world  :  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  unto  the 
goitig  down  of  the  same,  my  name  shall  be  great  among 
the  Gentiles  and  in  every  place  incense  shall  be  offered 
to  my  name.%  In  the  Revelation  we  hear  of  this  in- 
cense as  now  actually  carried  up  and  presented  in  hea- 
ven :  where  the  elders  fall  down  before  the  lamb  with 
golden  vials  in  their  hands,  filled  with  odours  (of  in- 
cense) which  are  the  prayers  of '  saints. §  Happy  are 
they  who  fulfil  this  service;  and  at  the  rising  and  going 
down  of  the  sun  send  up  this  offering  to  heaven,  as  all 
Christians  are  supposed  to  do,  at  least  twice  in  every- 
day. What  then  are  they,  and  to  whom  do  they  be- 
long, who  do  not  pray  ?  What  is  their  incense  ?  Per- 


*  Exodus  xxx.  8,  9.  f  Acts  x.  4. 

t  Mai.  i.  II.  §  Rev.  v.  8. 


Lect.  4.J  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  35 

haps  it  is  nothing  but  a  faithless  murmuring  and  com- 
plaining against  the  Providence  they  ought  to  bless  and 
adore.  Perhaps,  they  call  upon  God,  for  curses  upon 
themselves  and  others :  and  then  their  mouth,  instead 
of  offering  incense,  is  an  open  sepulchre,  sending  forth 
the  filthy  odours  of  death  and  uncleanness.  From 
this  unprofitable  and  most  miserable  state,  may  God 
deliver  all  Christian  families,  who  look  for  any  blessing 
upon  themselves  and  their  affairs  :  may  his  grace  open 
their  lips,  and  dispose  their  affections ;  that  they  may 
meet  together  in  peace,  and  make  a  morning  and  an 
evening  sacrifice  to  that  God  whose  eyes  are  upon 
them  all  the  day  long;  who  made  them,  and  redeemed 
them,  and  is  alone  able  to  save  those  that  call  upon 
him  through  Jesus  Christ. 


36  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lec t.  5. 


LECTURE  V. 


SOME  FARTHER  EXAMPLES,  WHICH  SHEW  HOW  THE  LAN- 
GUAGE  OF  THE  OTHER  PARTS  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE  IS  BOR- 
ROWED FROM  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  LAW  OF  MOSES, 
AND  TO  BE  INTERPRETED  THEREBY— THE  TEMPLE,  THE 
SABBATH,  CIRCUMCISION,  CLEAN  AND  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS, 
&c—  THE  WONDERFUL  TESTIMONY  OF  THE  LAW  TO  THE 
RELIGION  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

NEXT  in  order  to  the  offerings  and  the  priest- 
hood of  the  law,  is  the  place  of  divine  worship,  where- 
in these  sen  ices  were  accomplished,  called  the  taber- 
nacle ;  to  which  the  scriptures  both  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  refer  us  in  many  figurative  passages,  for 
the  right  understanding  of  which,  we  must  first  enquire 
what  the  tabernacle  was  in  itself. 

It  was  a  moveable  habitation ;  like  a  large  tent,  first 
erected  in  the  wilderness,  when  the  Israelites  were  on 
their  pilgrimage  to  Canaan.  It  contained  two  apart- 
ments; the  first  of  which  was  called  the  Holy  Place,  ap- 
pointed for  the  daily  services  of  sacrifice  and  prayer  ; 
beyond  which  there  was  an  inner  apartment,  called  the 
most  Holy  Place,  in  which  a  service  was  performed  once 
in  a  year  by  the  high  priest  only  :  and  these  two  apart- 
ments were  separated  by  a  veil  reaching  from  the  top 
to  the  bottom.     In  the  most  holy  place,  the  presence 


Lect.  5.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  g7 

of  God  was  manifested,  and  his  glory  is  said  on  some 
occasions  to  have  filled  the  tabernacle  :  but  it  was  usual 
for  this  glory  to  appear  above  or  between  the  cherubims 
which  were  placed  here  upon  the  mercy-seat  which 
covered  the  ark  :  on  which  account  the  apostle,  in  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  calls  them  the  cherubims  of 
glory  ;  and  the  Psalmist  speaks  of  them  as  the  proper 
seat  of  the  Divine  Majesty — Thou  that  dwellest  be- 
tween the  cherubims,  shine  forth.* 

There  was  this  remarkable  distinction  between  the 
two  apartments  of  the  tabernacle ;  that  as  the  one  was 
the  place  of  God's  residence,  the  habitation  of  his  ho- 
liness ;  the  other  had  a  conformity  with  this  present 
world ;  whence  the  apostle  calls  it  a  worldly  sanctuary, 
or  world-like  sanctuary,  that  is,  a  sanctuary  resembling 
this  visible  world ;  as  must  indeed  be  evident  to  those 
who  consider  what  relation  it  bore  to  the  other  sanc- 
tuary :  how  it  was  distinguished  in  its  use  from  the 
most  holy  place  which  was  the  habitation  of  God ;  and 
how  it  was  furnished  with  lights,  as  the  visible  hea- 
vens are,  the  chief  of  which  are  seven  in  number,  and 
the  lights  of  the  tabernacle  were  made  to  answer  them. 
From  this  known  relation  between  the  visible  world 


*  If  the  reader  wishes  to  enquire  into  the  form  and  design  of 
the  Cherubim,  more  particularly  than  the  intention  of  these  Lec- 
tures will  permit  me  to  do,  as  being  designed  for  general  use,  I 
must  refer  him  to  the  last  edition  of  Mr.  Parkhurst's  Hebrew 
Lexicon ;  the  most  useful  work,  without  exception,  that  has  ever 
been  published  on  the  Literature  or  Philology  of  the  sacred  lan- 
guage. 


^g  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  5. 

and  the  sanctuary,  the  heavens  are  called  the  taberna- 
cle of  the  sun;  the  whole  world  itself,  and  the  firma- 
ment of  heaven,  with  its  glorious  furniture,  being  one 
great  tabernacle,  comprehending  the  luminaries  of  the 
da}'  and  night,  represented  in  figure  by  the  lamps  of 
the  tabernacle.  Josephus,  in  his  Jewish  Antiquities, 
has  preserved  a  tradition,  that  this  was  the  design  of 
them,  and  that  they  had  respect  to  the  system  of  the 
heavens.*  And  this  alliance  between  the  furniture  of 
the  tabernacle  and  the  furniture  of  the  heavens,  gives 
us  a  grand  idea  of  the  visible  world;  the  inhabitants  of 
which  are  all  to  consider  themselves  as  compre- 
hended in  one  great  sanctuary,  where  the  first  and  best 
employment,  (by  necessary  inference,)  is  the  service 
of  that  God  who  has  brought  them  into  it.  Therefore 
the  indevout  mind,  which  is  either  ignorant  or  insen- 
sible of  this  doctrine  of  a  sacred  alliance  and  commu- 
nion betwixt  God  and  his  creatures,  is  a  poor  intruder 
into  the  great  temple  of  the  world;  on  whom  we 
ought  to  look  as  we  should  upon  the  rude  savage,  who 
should  come  staring  into  a  Christian  church  in  the  time 
of  divine  service,  without  under  standing  what  the  na- 
ture of  the  place  is,  and  how  the  people  are  employed. 
From  this  description  of  the  tabernacle  we  must 
proceed  to  the  figurative  acceptation  of  it :  for  that  it 
actually  was  a  figure,  and  had  respect  to  things  beyond 

*  The  Emperor  Numa  placed  a  sacred  fire  in  his  temple,  with 
the  like  allusion  to  the  fire  of  the  heavens  :  Jbcum  Vestce  virgi- 
nibus  colendum  dedil,  ut  ad  similitudinem  ccelestium  siderum 
cost  us  imperii flamma  vigilant.     Flor.  Hist.  1,  c.  2. 


Lect.  5.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  39 

itself,  is  shewn  by  the  reasoning  of  St.  Paul  through- 
out the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  ;  who  there  speaks  of  a 
true  tabernacle,  of  a  nature  superior  to  that  of  the  law, 
but  signified  and  shadowed  out  by  it.  The  same  ap- 
pears from  the  words  spoken  to  Moses,  See  thou  make 
all  things  according  to  the  pattern  shewed  to  thee  in 
the  mount :  which  direction  was  preserved,  and  is 
quoted  in  the  New  Testament  twice,  to  teach  us,  that 
the  visible  tabernacle  was  nothing  more  than  a  copy 
from  an  heavenly  original,  which  came  down  from 
God  out  of  heaven  (like  the  New  Jerusalem  in  the  Re- 
velation,) and  was  exhibited  to  Moses  in  a  vision  on 
the  mount.  Hence  the  apostle  argues  for  a  prophetic 
relation  to  heavenly  things  in  the  earthly  tabernacle. 
As  we  hear  of  a  Jerusalem  that  is  above,  correspond- 
ing to  the  earthly  Jerusalem ;  so  was  there  always  un- 
derstood to  be  a  heavenly  tabernacle ;  the  eternal  resi- 
dence of  God,  as  the  tabernacle  below  was  his  tempo- 
rary residence,  while  his  presence  was  with  Moses  and 
the  Jews.  This  heavenly  original  must  be  understood, 
where  the  Psalmist  speaks  of  the  dwelling  of  the  righ- 
teous man  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  under 
the  shadow  of  the  Almighty,  covering  him  with  his 
wings,  as  the  cherubim  of  Glory  are  said  to  spread 
forth  their  wings  in  the  secret  place  of  the  earth  ly 
sanctuary.*  So  where  he  saith  in  the  15th  psalm, 
Who  shall  dwell  in  thy  tabernacle,  or  zvho  shall  rest 
upon  thy  holy  hill?  No  man  can  be  so  ignorant  as  to 


*  Psalm  xci.  1,  4. 

12 


9Q  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  5- 

t'link  that  the  godly  were  to  expect  their  rest  and  re- 
ward in  a  tabernacle,  which  had  no  existence  after  the 
days  of  David.     The  words  must  refer  to  that  other 
tabernacle  spoken  of  by  Isaiah,  a  tabernacle  that  shall 
not  be  taken  down,  not  one  of  the  stakes  thereof  shall 
be  removed.*     As  there  is  an  eternal  throne  of  David, 
on  which  the  Messiah  sits  and  reigns  for  ever;\  so  is 
there  an  eternal  tabernacle,  in  which  he  is  exalted  as  the 
head  and  ruler  in  his  church  ;  and  both  are  united  on 
another  occasion — In  mercy  shall  the  throne  be  estab- 
lished, and  he  shall  sit  upon  it  in  truth  in  the  taberna- 
cle of  David  fudging  and  seeking  judgment  and  hast- 
ing righteousness :  which  words  cannot  be  understood 
of  the  literal  tabernacle,  though  they  refer  to  the  mercy- 
seat  in  the  most  holy  place,  over  which  God  appeared 
enthroned  in  glory  above  the  cherubim  ;  with  which  in 
Ezekiel's  vision  of  them,  there  was  a  likeness  of  a 
throne,  with  the  appearance  of  a  man  upon  it ;  and  the 
whole  together  is  called  the  appearance  of  the  likeness 
of  the  glory  oj  the  Lord:\  whence  we  collect,  that 
what  Ezekiel  saw  was  a  visionary  appearance  of  that 
seat  of  glory  in  the  holy  place,  which  was  the  instituted 
likeness  of  the  seat  of  the  divine  glory  in  the  heavens. 
And  in  a  like  vision  of  Isaiah,  the  throne  of  God,  and 
the  display  of  his  glory,  is  still  present  in  his  temple: 
— I  saw  the  Lord  sitting  upon  a  throne,  high  and  lifted 
up;  and  his  train  filed  the  temple.  §     So  where  the 


*  Isaiah  xxxiii.  20.  f  Luke  i.  32. 

t  Ezekiel  i.  26.  h  Isaiah  vi.  1 . 


Lect.  5.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  oj 

same  prophet  saith,  Look  down  from  heaven,  and  be- 
hold from  the  habitation  of  thy  holiness  and  oj  thy 
glory;*  the  words  habitation  and  holiness  and  glory 
all  refer  to  the  earthly  sanctuary  as  a  pattern  of  the 
heavenly. 

The  tabernacle  was  also  a  figure  of  the  church  of 
Christ :  and  therefore  the  renovation  and  establishment 
of  the  church  amongst  the  Gentiles  by  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel,  is  described  under  the  idea  of  a  resto- 
ration of  the  tabernacle  which  had  ceased  from  the 
time  of  David.  The  prophet  Amos  speaks  of  this 
gathering  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  church  of  Christ,  as 
into  the  tabernacle  taken  in  this  new  sense ;  and  St. 
James  made  the  proper  application  of  it,  when  the 
great  question  was  debated  concerning  the  reception 
of  the  heathens.  To  this,  says  he,  agree  the  words 
of  the  prophets,  as  it  is  written,  I  will  return  and  will 
build  again  the  tabernacle  of  David  which  is  fallen 
down — that  the  residue  of  men  might  seek  after  the 
Lord,  and  all  the  Gentiles  upon  whom  my  name  is 
called.]-  To  the  same  effect  St.  Stephen  had  observed 
in  his  apology  to  the  Jews,  that  the  tabernacle  had 
originally  been  brought  in  with  Jesus  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Gentiles ;  and  therefore  the  church  might 
reasonably  go  thither  again ;  whereto  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  under  the  true  Jesus  should  remove  and 
settle  it. 

The  propriety  with  which  the  Christian  church  is 


Isaiah  lxiii.  15.  f  Acts  xv.  6. 


92  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  5 

signified  by  this  name,  is  too  plain  to  be  enlarged  up- 
on ;  inasmuch  as  we  have  already  seen,  that  all  things 
are  there  done  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  which  were  done 
in  figure  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  law. 

But  the  tabernacle,  as  well  as  the  temple,  is  farther 
applied  as  a  figure  of  the  body  of  Christ ;  and  this  in 
a  passage  not  open  to  common  observation.  The 
word,  saith  Saint  John,  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt 
amongst  us  ;  where  the  true  sense  of  the  original  is, 
he  tabernacled  amongst  us :  and  then  it  is  added,  and 
ive  beheld  his  glory  ;  for  where  the  true  tabernacle  is, 
there  must  be  also  the  glory  of  it.  Here  then  we 
have  the  manifestation  of  Christ  in  the  flesh,  signified 
by  the  dwelling  of  God's  presence  in  the  tabernacle ; 
than  which  there  can  be  no  higher  proof  of  his  divinity 
to  those  that  understand  the  tiling  in  this  light.  As 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  was  once  present  in  the  taber- 
nacle, it  was  now  present  in  the  body  of  Christ :  and 
as  that  glory  was  said  on  occasion  to  have  fllled  the 
tabernacle,  so  it  is  said,  with  reference  to  the  same, 
that  in  him  dwelt  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodi- 
ly. Well  therefore  might  he  say  of  his  body,  Destroy 
this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up  again  ; 
for  it  was  both  a  tabernacle  and  temple  in  a  stricter 
sense  than  had  ever  been  before ;  the  Godhead  had 
occasionally  dwelt  in  the  buildings  made  with  hands ; 
but  with  him  it  abode  continually.  The  use  our  Sa- 
viour made  of  this  term  amounted  to  an  assertion  of 
his  Godhead  to  the  Jews ;  but  as  the  Jews  did  not  then 
understand  the  sense  of  his  expression,  so  arc  many 
Christians  as  blind  to  it  at  this  day. 


Lect.  S.\  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  93 

After  the  pattern  of  Christ,  and  according  to  their 
proper  measure,  all  Christians  have  the  presence  of 
God  abiding  within  them  :  whence  their  bodies  also  are 
the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  from  which  conside- 
ration they  are  instructed  to  dedicate  them  to  the  ser- 
vice of  God ;  for  that  is  certainly  one  use  of  a  temple ; 
and  not  to  defile  them,  for  that  is  sacrilege.  And  the 
subject  gives  them  this  consolation,  that  though  their 
earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  he  dissolved,  he  who 
raised  up  the  tabernacle  of  David  from  its  ruins  to  a 
more  glorious  state  in  the  Gentile  world,  and  raised 
up  the  temple  of  Christ's  body  which  the  Jews  de- 
stroyed, shall  in  like  manner  quicken  our  mortal  bodies 
by  the  spirit  that  dwelleth  in  us,  and  give  us  an  house 
not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens. 

It  was  observed  above,  that  the  tabernacle  of  David 
is  a  figurative  term  for  the  Christian  church,  as  the 
mystical  body  of  Christ :  we  shall  likewise  find,  that 
the  blessings  and  privileges  of  the  Christian  society,  or 
assembly  of  Christian  people  do  all  correspond  with 
the  ceconomy  of  the  congregation  of  Israel,  and  are 
described  in  terms  borrowed  from  the  law  ;  of  which 
the  following  example  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
will  be  sufficient,  where  the  apostle  says — Ye  are  come 
unto  Mount  Sion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the  living  God, 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innumerable  com- 
pany of  angels,  to  the  general  assembly  and  church  of 
the  first  born  which  are  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God 
the  judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  oj  just  men  made 
perfect,  and  to  Jesus  the  mediator  of  the  new  covenant, 
and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling  that  speaketh  better 


94  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  5. 

things  than  that  of  Abel.  Every  Christian  is  to  conceive 
what  his  own  state  is,  by  looking  back  to  the  privi- 
leges of  the  church  of  old.  He  is  come  to  Mount  Zion, 
to  a  situation  exalted  above  the  world  :  a  mountain 
chosen  and  favoured  of  God,  blessed  with  the  dew  of 
heavenly  grace,  and  inheriting  the  promise  of  eternal 
life  ;  even  to  that  holy  hill,  on  which  Christ  is  establish- 
ed as  King  against  all  the  opposition  of  the  world  below. 
It  is  the  New  Jerusalem,  because  it  is  ordained  to  be, 
as  that  city  was  of  old,  at  unity  with  itself,  and  a  princi- 
ple of  unity  to  all  the  land  where  all  the  tribes  of  the 
earth  unite  in  one  religion,  as  the  tribes  of  Israel  assem- 
bled to  worship  at  Jerusalem.  The  cities  of  the  neigh- 
bouring nations  were  dedicated  to  some  tutelary  idol ; 
Jerusalem  alone  to  the  true  and  living  God  ;  so  now  is 
the  same  God  connected  with  the  Christian  city,  and 
with  that  only  ;  and  all  the  company  of  heaven,  innu- 
merable as  they  are,  who  assisted  at  the  delivery  of  the 
law,  are  with  him.  As  the  first-born  of  Israel,  who 
had  the  right  of  inheritance,  were  redeemed  and  writ- 
ten down  by  name  ;  so  are  all  the  children  of  the 
Christian  society  enrolled  in  heaven  as  the  first-born 
of  God,  and  the  book  of  life  in  which  they  are  written 
answers  to  the  register  of  the  church  of  Israel.  We 
are  come  to  God  the  Judge  of  all,  because  we  are  taken 
out  of  the  world  of  the  ungodly,  who  are  aliens,  to  be 
subject  to  his  laws,  and  consequently  to  be  under  his 
govcrment.  It  is  true  that  all  the  world  are  under  the 
authority  of  God  ;  but  then  all  are  not  related  to  him 
as  citizens  and  subjects.  In  this  respect,  God  was 
said  to  be  nigher  to  the  Jews  than  to  any  nation  upon 


Lect.  5.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  95 

earth,  because  he  was  with  them  as  their  judge  and 
protector.  We  have  our  Jesus,  as  they  had  their  Mo- 
ses; both  of  them  mediators,  to  stand  between  God 
and  the  people.  The  Hebrews  were  not  permitted  to 
draw  near  to  God  to  treat  for  themselves  on  pain  of 
death  ;  but  Moses  was  to  be  between  them,  as  Christ 
is  now  betwixt  us  and  God,  and  no  man  can  come  to 
the  Father  but  by  him :  and  in  his  blood  we  have  re- 
mission, as  all  things  were  purified  under  the  law,  and 
nothing  accepted  or  sanctified  without  the  blood  of 
sprinkling  ;  which  speaketh  better  things  than  that  of 
Abel ;  for  the  blood  of  Abel  cried  for  vengeance,  this 
for  mercy  and  pardon. 

Thus  is  our  society  on  like  terms  with  theirs  in 
every  respect :  and  to  these  particulars  I  may  add,  that 
as  the  congregation  of  Israel  on  great  and  solemn  oc- 
casions was  called  together  by  the  sound  of  a  trumpet, 
so  shall  the  great  assembly  of  all  nations,  all  the  tribes 
of  the  earth,  and  we  ourselves  among  the  rest,  be 
summoned  after  the  same  form:  the  trumpet  shall 
sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised:  and  then  we  shall 
see  with  our  eyes  what  that  great  society  is,  in  the 
which  we  now  live  by  faith. 

There  are  many  particular  institutions  remaining, 
some  of  a  religious,  some  of  a  moral,  and  others  of  a 
civil  nature;  a  few  of  the  most  useful  of  which  I  must 
select,  and  shew  how  the  scripture  has  applied  them. 

The  Sabbath,  which  succeeds  the  labours  of  the 
week,  appears  to  have  been  appointed  from  the  begin- 


96  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  5. 

mftg  as  a  perpetual  sign,  a  sign  forever*  of  that  happy 
rest  w  hich  the  servants  of  God  are  to  expect  after  the 
labours  of  this  life.  For  thus  die  apostle  hath  reasoned 
about  it;  that  being  called  the  Rest  of  God,  it  cannot 
be  of  an  earthly,  but  must  be  of  an  heavenly  nature; 
for  God  doth  not  rest  upon  earth  where  men  labour. 
He  shews  that  the  true  rest  promised  to  the  faithful 
was  not  the  Sabbath  that  was  appointed  after  God  had 
finished  his  works ;  nor  yet  the  state  of  rest,  so  called, 
in  the  land  of  Canaan ;  because  the  promise  is  still  sus- 
pended, and  repeated  again  in  the  time  of  David  : 
Whence  he  concludes  that  it  was  a  rest  never  yet 
fulfilled  in  this  life,  but  still  remaining  for  the  people 
oj  God,  and  into  which  the  faithful  enter  when  they 
die  in  the  Lord  and  rest  from  their  labours.  I  say  no 
more  of  this  here,  because  I  have  considered  the  sub- 
ject more  at  large  in  my  Lectures  on  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  to  which  it  properly  belongs. 

Circumcision  was  that  rite  of  the  law  by  which  the 
Israelites  were  taken  into  God's  covenant;  and  (in  the 
spirit  of  it)  was  the  same  as  baptism  among  Christians. 
For  as  the  form  of  baptism  expresses  the  putting  away 
of  sin ;  circumcision  was  another  form  to  the  same  ef- 
fect. The  scripture  speaks  of  a  circumcision  made 
without  hands,  of  which  that  made  with  hands  was  no 
more  than  an  outward  sign,  which  denoted  the  putting 
off  the  body  if  the  sins  of  the  fleshy  and  becoming  a 
new  creature ;  which  is  the  sense  of  our  baptism.  Of 
this  inward  and  spiritual  grace  of  circumcision  the 

*  Exodus  xxxi.  17.  f  Col.  ii.  11. 


Lect.  5.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  97 

apostle  speaks  expressly  in  another  place  :  he  is  not  a 
Jew  which  is  one  outwardly,  neither  is  that  circum- 
cision which  is  outward  in  the  Jlesh;  but  he  is  a  Jew 
which  is  one  inwardly,  and  circumcision  is  that  of  the 
heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter.*  Some  may 
suppose  that  this  spiritual  application  of  circumcision, 
as  a  sacrament,  was  invented  after  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel,  when  the  veil  was  taken  from  the  law  ;  but  this 
doctrine  was  only  inforced  to  those  who  had  it  before, 
and  had  departed  from  the  sense  of  their  own  law  :  for 
thus  did  Moses  instruct  the  Jews,  that  there  is  a  fore- 
skin of  the  heart  which  was  to  be  circumcised  in  a 
moral  or  spiritual  way,  before  they  could  be  accepted 
as  the  servants  of  God  ;  and  again,  that  the  Lord  would 
circumcise  their  heart,  to  love  him  with  all  their  heart, 
and  with  all  their  soul  ;f  which  was  the  same  as  to 
say,  that  he  would  give  them  what  circumcision  sig- 
nified, making  them  Jews  inwardly,  and  giving  them 
the  inward  grace  with  the  outward  sign ;  without 
which,  the  letter  of  baptism  avails  no  more  now  than 
the  letter  of  circumcision  did  then  :  and  we  may  say 
of  the  one  as  it  is  said  of  the  other,  "  He  is  not  a  Chris- 
tian which  is  one  outwardly,  and  baptism  is  not  the 
putting  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh  by  washing  with 
water,  but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards 
God."% 

Nearly  allied  to  this  was  the  precept  which  forbade 
them  to  touch  any  dead  carcase  ;  and,  in  case  of  any 
such  accident,  enjoined  a  religious  purification  by  wa- 

*  Rom.  ii.  28.    f  Dent.  x.  16.  and  xxx.  6.    J  1  Pet.  iii.  2T, 

13 


98  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  5. 

ter.  Here  apply  the  general  rule,  he  is  not  a  Jew, 
which  is  one  outwardly,  and  then  you  will  understand, 
that  outward  defilement  was  not  the  thing  to  be  feared, 
but  the  defilement  of  the  mind,  lest  evil  communications 
should  corrupt  good  manners.  This  precept  in  its 
moral  acceptation  teaches  that  there  is  a  certain  relation 
between  death,  and  sin,  and  pollution.  For  why  do 
men  die  but  for  their  sin  ?  and  also,  that  he  who  con- 
verses with  such  as  are  under  the  death  of  sin,  that  is, 
dead  in  spirit,  dead  to  faith  and  holiness,  will  be  defiled 
by  their  company,  and  will  want  washing  ;  till  which 
he  will  be  unfit  for  the  service  of  God.  Thus  the  apos- 
tle himself  explains  the  case  ;  that  as  those  who  were 
unclean  by  touching  a  dead  body,  were  purified  with 
a  ley  made  of  the  ashes  of  a  sacrifice,  so  are  our  con- 
sciences to  be  purged  from  dead  works  to  serve  the 
living  God.* 

Another  prohibition  of  the  same  nature  is  referred  to 
for  a  like  purpose,  and  the  apostle  thereby  warns  the 
Christians  to  avoid  the  society  of  the  heathens;  speak- 
ing in  such  terms  as  nothing  but  the  law  of  Moses  can 
truly  explain :  Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked  together 
with  unbelievers ;  borrowing  his  expression  from  that 
law  which  forbade  the  Jews  to  plough  with  an  ox  and 
an  ass  together,  that  this,  with  a  clean  and  an  unclean 
beast,  between  whom  as  there  is  no  alliance  of  nature, 
they  were  not  to  be  mismatched  under  the  same  yoke. 
This  the  apostle  has  applied  to  its  true  sense,  in  those 
words,  be  ye  not  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbe- 

*  Compare  Heb.  ix.  13,  14.  with  Numb.  xix.  II,  See. 


Lect.5.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  gg 

lieyers.*  Yet  this  law,  on  a  proper  occasion,  was  to 
be  superseded,  when  the  Jew  and  Gentile  were  both  to 
join  in  the  work  of  the  gospel :  which  consideration  ex- 
plains that  difficult  passage  in  the  prophet  Isaiah — 
Blessed  are  ye  that  sow  beside  all  xvaters,  that  send 
forth  thither  the  feet  of  the  ox  and  the  ass. 

On  another  occasion  the  same  apostle  shews  us,  that 
a  law  which  seems  to  make  provision  for  beasts,  was 
intended  for  the  benefit  of  God's  ministers,  and  is  to  be 
so  applied.     The  law  saith,  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the 
ox  that  treadeth  out  the  com.     Here,  to  prevent  mis- 
understandings,   the  apostle  asks   a   question,  Doth 
God  take  care  for  oxen  ?  Was  his  divine  and  holy  law- 
made  for  beasts  ?  certainly  not :  but,  for  men ;  Jor  our 
sakes  no    doubt   this   was   written.^     Although  the 
words  were  spoken  of  beasts,  the  sense  relates  only  to 
men ;  the  precept  being  wholly  intended  to  teach  un- 
der a  figure  (as  the  law  taught  every  thing  else)  that 
the  ministers  of  God's  word  should  be  maintained  out 
of  the  profits  and  offerings  of  the  Church  in  which  they 
serve,  as  the  ox  at  the  threshing-floor  is  justly  permit- 
ted to  take  advantage  of  his  labour,  and  to  partake  of 
the  corn  while  he  is  treading  it  out  for  the  use  of  man. 
Every  labourer,  whether  he  be  an  ox  or  a  man,  is 
worthy  of  his  hire  :  and  if  it  is  unjust  and  unmerciful  to 
defraud  a  beast  of  his  dues,  it  must  be  something  much 
worse  to  invade  the  rights  of  the  ministers  of  God's 
church.      The  precept  therefore  is  stronger  in  its  rea- 
son than  if  it  had  been  delivered  in  plain  words  :  y»jt 

*  2  Cor.  vi.  14.  f  1  Cor.  ix.  9,  &cc. 


!Q0  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  5. 

it  is  to  be  questioned  whether  the  reason  of  the  thing, 
in  any  form,  will  prevail  with  all  minds.  Some  there 
are  in  all  countries  *  who,  though  they  would  not  de- 
fraud their  oxen,  Mould  be  glad  to  muzzle  every 
Christian  minister  ;  and  that  in  more  senses  than  one ; 
they  would  not  only  be  glad  to  see  him  deprived  of 
the  rights  of  his  ministry,  but  be  better  pleased  if 
they  could  put  a  muzzle  upon  the  ministry  itself,  and 
stop  the  offence  of  Christian  preaching.  But  this  they 
will  never  be  able  to  do,  till  God  shall  be  provoked  to 
forsake  the  ministry  who  have  first  forsaken  him ;  and 
then  the  weakest  hand  that  is  lifted  up  may  prevail 
against  them. 

There  are  two  very  remarkable  prophecies,  the  one 
relating  to  the  infidelity  of  the  Jewish  church,  the  other 
to  the  person  of  the  Messiah,  which  are  the  last  I  shall 
take  notice  of,  both  delivered  in  the  figurative  lan- 
guage of  the  municipal  laws  of  the  Jews. 

If  a  woman  was  suspected  to  be  an  adulteress  by  a 
husband  who  was  jealous  of  her,  and  there  was  no  proof, 
she  was  to  present  herself  before  the  priest  and  stand 
the  trial  of  a  water-ordeal :  a  bitter  water  which  caused 
the  curse  was  to  be  offered  to  her  ;  and  when  the  cur- 
ses were  pronounced  conditionally  upon  her  supposed 
guilt,  she  was  to  venture  the  consequences,  and  say, 
Amen.  The  priest  was  to  write  down  the  form  of  the 
curses  against  her  in  a  book,  and  to  blot  them  out  with 
the  bitter  water  if  she  proved  to  be  innocent ;  if  not, 
the*  were  then  to  remain  there  upon  record  against  her. 
If  she  was  actually  defiled,  this  water  was  to  go  into  her 


Lect.  5.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  jqj 

bowels  and  take  effect  upon  her  body  in  a  fearful  man- 
ner, and  she  was  to  be  a  curse  among  the  people.* 

This  institution  explains  some  very  difficult  passages 
in  the  109th  Psalm,  that  prophecy  of  God's  judgment 
against  the  apostate  Jewish  church  :  on  whom,  as  upon 
a  guilty  adulteress  against  a  jealous  God,  denying  her 
sin,  and  defying  the  divine  vengeance,  the  curse  was 
to  take  effect  as  against  the  woman  in  the  law.  The 
psalm  is  worded  as  if  it  were  meant  of  some  single 
wicked  person,  and  it  is  accordingly  applied  to  the  rep- 
robation of  Judas  ;  but  other  passages,  and  the  use  made 
of  them  by  the  inspired  writers,  shew  that  it  must  be 
extended  to  the  Jewish  church  at  large,  of  which  Ju- 
das, in  his  name,  and  his  sin,  and  his  punishment,  was 
no  more  than  a  leader  and  an  example.  Here  then 
it  is  said,  when  he  shall  be  judged  let  him  be  condemn- 
ed; when  he  is  put  to  the  trial,  let  him  be  found  guilty ; 
and  let  his  prayer  be  turned  into  sin  ;  let  it  be  as  that 
offering  which  bringeth  iniquity  to  remembrance,  with- 
out oil  or  incense  to  recommend  it  for  acceptance :  let 
not  the  sin  of  his  mother  be  blotted  out,  but  stand  upon 
record  as  the  curses  against  the  sin  of  the  adulteress, 
which  the  water  was  not  to  take  away :  As  he  loved 
cursing,  so  let  it  come  unto  him — let  it  come  into  his 
bowels  like  water,  even  like  that  bitter  water  which 
descended  with  a  curse  into  the  bowels  of  the  guilty 
woman.  As  she  exposed  herself  in  form  to  the  curse, 
and  said,  Amen,  to  all  the  terms  of  it ;  so  did  the  Jews 


See  Numb.  v.  12,  &c. 


1Q2  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  5. 

challenge  the  curse  of  heaven,  which  accordingly  took 
place  on  them  and  their  posterity. 

The  civil  institution  applied  to  the  person  of  the 
Messiah,  is  that  concerning  the  Hebrew  servant,  who 
having  served  six  years,  was  to  go  free  in  the  sabbati- 
cal year,  if  he  chose  to  depart ;  but  if  he  was  content 
with  his  service,  and  willing  to  continue  in  it,  he  was 
to  be  brought  before  the  judges,  and  to  be  fastened 
to  the  door,  or  the  post  of  the  door,  by  an  awl  driven 
through  his  ear,  as  a  sign  of  his  consent,  and  he  was  to 
serve  his  master  for  ever.* 

Under  an  allusion  to  this  example,  the  obedience 
of  Christ  in  the  flesh  is  foretold  and  illustrated  in  the 
Psalms  ;  and  a  wonderful  example  it  is  :  for  here  we 
are  to  observe,  that  upon  this  occasion,  no  sacrifice  nor 
offering  is  appointed ;  nothing  passes  but  the  obedience 
of  a  willing  servant :  therefore  in  the  application  of  it  to 
Christ,  the  prophet  says,  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou 
didst  not  desire,  but  mine  ears  hast  thou  opened — burnt 
offering  and  sin-offering  thou  hast  not  required  ;  then 
said  I,  lo  I  come,  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is 
written  of  me,  1  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  God.  In 
the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  passage,  as  cited  by 
the  apostle  and  applied  to  the  obedience  and  death  of 
Christ,  stands  thus  ;  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou 
wouldst  not,  but  a  body  hast  thou  prepared  me.  The 
sense  is  the  same  in  both,  though  the  words  are  differ- 
ent. The  apostle  after  the  Greek  version  says,  a  body 
hast  thou  prepared  me  ;  that  is,  a  body  wherein  to 

*  Exod.  xxi.  6. 


Lect.  5.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^Q3 

suffer  and  be  obedient  unto  death  :  the  Psalm  says, 
mine  ears  hast  thou  pierced:  for  the  word  is  the  same 
as  in  the  22d  Psalm,  they  pierced  my  hands  and  feet ; 
and  here  the  piercing  of  the  ear,  the  symbol  of  obe- 
dience, was  a  sign  of  his  suffering  in  that  body  which 
should  be  prepared  for  him.  All  this  being  a  refer- 
ence to  the  custom  observed  under  the  law  towards 
the  obedient  servant,  that  custom  was  a  standing  tes- 
timony in  the  volume  of  the  book  of  Moses,  that  the 
Messiah,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  should  offer 
himself  freely  to  do  the  will  of  God  for  our  salvation  : 
and  in  consequence  of  this  determination,  should  be 
pierced  in  the  body,  as  the  willing  servant  was  bored 
through  to  the  post  of  the  door  ;  the  place  where  the 
blood  of  the  passover  was  sprinkled  with  the  same 
signification  once  every  year. 

In  this  and  the  preceding  Lecture,  I  have  endea- 
voured to  shew,  as  my  plan  requires,  how  the  language 
of  the  other  parts  of  scripture  is  borrowed  from  the 
language  of  the  law,  and  is  to  be  interpreted  thereby. 
To  what  has  been  said,  give  me  leave  to  add  a  few 
general  observations  on  the  nature  and  design  of  the 
law  of  Moses. 

St.  Paul  asks  the  question,  Wherefore  then  serveth 
the  law?  To  which  he  gives  this  answer  ;  It  was  added 
because  of  transgression,  till  the  seed  should  come  to 
whom  the  promise  was  made.*  The  expectation  of 
the  seed  first  promised  in  paradise,  and  afterwards  to 
Abraham,  was  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  patriar- 


Galatians  Hi.  19. 


104  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.5. 

chal  faith  ;  and  all  the  earliest  institutions  of  priesthood 
and  sacrifice  were  intended  to  keep  up  this  expecta- 
tion. But  when  the  perverseness  of  men  had  changed 
and  corrupted  the  primitive  institutions  for  the  base 
purposes  of  idolatry  and  the  worship  of  false  gods,  it 
became  necessary,  on  account  of  these  frequent  trans- 
gressions, to  add  a  written  law,  with  a  stated  form  of 
positive  services,  never  to  be  altered  nor  departed  from; 
and  all  of  them  descriptive  of  the  salvation  which  was 
to  be  effected  by  the  promised  seed ;  whence  you  are 
not  to  wonder,  that  in  him  they  all  meet  and  find  their 
interpretation. 

They  who  were  bound  to  the  observation  of  the  law, 
were  thereby  separated  of  necessity  from  the  world ; 
and,  as  St.  Paul  very  strongly  expresses  it,  shut  up  un- 
to the  faith  which  should  afterwards  be  revealed;* 
confined  to  a  set  of  ceremonies  and  services,  under 
which  it  was  in  a  manner  impracticable  for  them  to 
evade  the  objects  of  their  faith,  when  they  should  be 
revealed  in  their  true  form.  Not  only  the  substance 
of  what  was  expected,  but  all  the  particulars  and  cir- 
cumstantials had  been  acted  over  in  figure  for  ages 
together  :  and  so  the  law  was  a  schoolmaster  unto 
Christ ;  preparing  those  who  were  under  it  for  the 
reception  of  the  gospel,  and  as  it  were  forcing  them 
upon  it,  if  men  could  on  that  principle  be  reconciled 
to  truth. 

When  the  gospel  appeared,  the  Jew  should  have  rea- 


*  Galatians  v.  23. 


Legt.  5.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^5 

soncd  thus  with  himself.  Do  they  say  Jesus  died  for 
our  redemption  ?  So  did  the  paschal  lamb  die  to  re- 
deem our  whole  nation  in  Egypt.  Did  he  ascend 
afterwards  into  heaven?  So  did  our  high- priest  go 
yearly  into  the  most  holy  place,  carrying  thither  the 
blood  of  a  sacrifice  slain  in  the  worldly  sanctuary.  Is 
there  no  remission  of  sin  without  shedding  of  blood  ? 
There  certainly  was  none  under  the  law.  Has  Jesus 
appointed  a  baptism  with  water?  So  had  our  law  its 
purifications  for  the  washing  away  of  un cleanness.  Is 
the  partition  we  have  so  diligently  kept  up  between 
ourselves  and  the  Heathens  to  be  broken  down  at  last, 
and  is  the  true  religion  to  be  carried  out  amongst  all 
nations  ?  So  was  our  tabernacle  brought  from  the  soli- 
tary wilderness  under  Joshua,  whom  the  Greeks  call 
Jesus,  into  the  possession  of  the  Gentiles.  Numberless 
other  questions  might  be  asked,  shocking  to  the  preju- 
dices of  a  Jew,  which  would  bring  their  own  answers 
with  them  out  of  the  law  of  Moses  :  and  such  was  the 
use  the  Jew  ought  to  have  made  of  it. 

From  the  various  applications  of  particular  passages 
from  the  law,  previous  to  the  revelation  of  the  gospel, 
it  appears  that  the  law  was  in  itself  a  spiritual  as  well  as 
a  figurative  system,  for  the  forming  of  the  heart,  and 
the  purifying  of  the  mind ;  yet  conveying  its  precepts  in 
parables  and  signs  which  wanted  an  interpretation  :  and 
that  interpretation  is  occasionally  dropped  in  so  many 
parts  of  the  scripture,  especially  in  the  Psalms,  that  the 
prophets  and  masters  of  Israel  appear  to  have  under- 
stood the  law  in  a  spiritual  sense.  If  the  bulk  of  the 
people  did  not  understand  it  so  we  must  not  impute 

14 


106  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  S. 

this  to  any  uncertainty  or  obscurity  in  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  but  to  that  carnal  affection  which  naturally 
chuses  the  form  of  religion  without  the  spirit  of  it. 
Their  pride,  their  affectation  of  false  wisdom,  their 
avarice,  their  adultery,  blinded  them,  and  made  them 
as  averse  to  the  sense  of  a  miracle  wrought  before  their 
eyes,  as  to  the  scene  of  the  darkest  verse  in  the  Pen- 
tateuch. The  world,  always  has  been,  and  now  is,  to 
those  that  are  shut  up'under  its  laws,  a  schoolmaster  to 
turn  men  away  from  Christ ;  and  a  conceited  worldly- 
minded  Christian,  proud  of  thepo  wers  of  reason  without 
grace,  is  at  this  hour  as  blind  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  as 
the  Jew  ever  was  to  that  of  the  law.  For  ignorance  of  the 
true  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  the  design  of  its  doc- 
trines,.! would  match  the  modern  philosophising  So- 
cinian  with  the  blindest  Jew  :  for  the  one  has  made  the 
gospel  as  void  as  the  other  made  the  law.  Read  the 
writings  of  some  whose  books  have  made  a  great 
noise  in  the  present  century,  and  you  will  know  no 
more  of  the  Christian  church  and  the  Christian  sacra- 
ments, than  the  wandering  Jew,  who  now  travels  about 
to  cheat  Christians  with  his  wares,  knows  of  the  priest- 
hood and  sacrifices  in  the  books  of  Moses. 

The  law  is  of  use  to  us  Christians  for  the  illustra- 
tion of  the  New  Testament,  whose  language  and  mys- 
teries are  so  founded  upon  it,  that  the  language  of  the 
gospels  and  epistles  is  unintelligible  without  a  particu- 
lar attention  to  the  law ;  and  in  proportion  as  our 
knowledge  of  it  encreases,  our  Faith  will  grow  stronger. 
Thus  the  law  serves  for  evidence  both  to  the  Jew  and 
Gentile  ;  and  the  same  schoolmaster,  which  should 


Lect.  5.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  jq^ 

have  brought  them  to  Christ,  will  keep  us  with  him. 
For,  did  the  apostle  in  his  preaching  say  nothing  but 
what  Moses  had  said?  And  did  the  gospel  teach  no- 
thing but  what  the  law  had  signified 'long  before?  Then 
must  the  gospel  be  that  very  salvation,  which  was 
known  to  God  from  the  beginning,  and  in  reserve  to 
be  made  manifest  to  the  world  in  the  latter  days. 

This  argument,  clear  and  irresistible  as  it  certainly 
is,  will  one  day  appear  to  the  Jews  as  it  does  to  us  ; 
when  the  scales  of  blindness  shall  fall  from  their  eyes  : 
and  then  it  may  be  thought  the  greatest  wonder  of  all 
that  they  who  had  the  Old  Testament  in  their  hands 
for  eighteen  hundred  years,  should  never  have  seen 
the  use  of  it  before. 


108  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  6. 


LECTURE  VI. 

ON  THE  FIGURES  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES  WHICH  ARE  BOR- 
ROWED FROM  THE  EVENTS  OF  THE  SACRED  HISTORY. 

THE  scripture  is  the  authentic  history  of  God's  Pro- 
vidence ever  since  man  had  a  being;  and  in  the  conduct 
of  God's  Providence  toward  man,  there  is  an  uniformity 
of  design,  which  hath  proceeded  according  to  the  same 
laws  of  eternal  justice  and  wisdom  in  all  ages  of  the 
world  :  from  which  consideration  it  follows,  that  what 
God  did  in  times  past  was  an  earnest,  a  pattern,  and  a 
sign,  of  what  he  might  be  expected  to  do  in  times  to 
come.  The  godly  were  delivered,  the  wicked  punish- 
ed, the  proud  abased,  the  humble  exalted,  under  like 
circumstances  and  after  like  forms  at  different  periods 
of  time.  Thus  it  hath  been,  and  thus  it  will  be  ;  there- 
fore things  past  are  referred  to  in  the  scripture  as  fig- 
ures of  things  to  come,  and  so  the  history  of  the  Bible 
becomes  a  chain  of  prophecy,  and  is  actually  applied 
as  such  by  the  scripture  itself;  as  we  shall  see  from  a 
variety  of  examples. 

I  reckon  two  sorts  of  historical  figures,  the  one 
general,  the  other  particular  ;  the  former  being  refer- 
ences to  the  history  of  places,  and  of  such  events  as 
related  to  a  people  at  large,  or  even  to  the  whole  world ; 
the  latter  referring  us  to  the  lives,  actions,  sufferings 


Lect.  6.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  jqq 

and  successes  of  individual  persons.  Thus  the 
saints  of  old  were  prophetical  in  their  actions  as  well 
as  in  their  words  :  of  which  some  striking  examples 
will  occur  to  us  as  we  proceed. 

One  of  the  most  early  and  memorable  events  of  the 
Scripture  is  that  of  the  destruction  of  the  world  by  the 
Flood  ;  from  which  Noah  and  his  family  were  saved 
in  an  Ark,  supported  by  those  same  waters  which  de- 
stroyed the  world  of  the  ungodly.  This  history  of  the 
Salvation  of  Noah  is  applied  by  St.  Peter  as  a  figure 
of  that  Salvation  which  we  now  obtain  as  the  family 
of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Ark  of  the  Church  by  the  wa- 
ters of  Baptism  :  the  long  suffering  of  God  waited  in 
the  days  of  Noah,  while  the  ark  was  preparing,  where- 
in few,  that  is,  eight  souls,  were  saved  by  water.  'The 
like  figure  whereunto,  even  Baptism,  doth  now  save 
us  by  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ :*  By 
which  it  is  to  be  understood,  that  the  salvation  of 
Christians  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  salvation  of  Noah's 
family,  are  two  events  of  the  like  form  and  figure  ;  the 
former  a  sign  of  the  latter.  And  a  wonderful  sign  it 
was,  if  we  look  into  the  particulars.  Here  was  a  judg- 
ment which  extended  to  a  whole  world ;  a  condem- 
nation that  passed  upon  all,  except  those  who  were  of 
the  family  of  Noah  :  as  the  wrath  of  God  and  a  future 
judgment  upon  sin,  to  be  executed  by  fire,  is  denoun- 
ced against  all  mankind,  except  those  who  shall  belong 
to  the  family  of  Jesus  Christ.  As  an  Ark  was  prepar- 
ed by  Noah,  so  hath  Christ  prepared  his  Church,  to 

*1  Pet.iii.  20,21. 


HO  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  6. 

conduct  us  in  safety  through  the  waves  of  trouble  and 
the  perils  of  the  world,  in  which  so  many  are  lost. — 
And  as  the  waters  of  the  flood  carried  Noah  and  his 
family JJjflPa  new  world  after  the  old  was  drowned ;  so 
do.tjai^^aters  of  Baptism  carry  us  into  a  new  state  with 
Jesus  Christ,  who  passed  over  the  waves  of  death,  and 
is  risen  from  the  dead.  And  this  practical  inference 
is  to  be  made  in  favour  of  the  ordinance  of  the  Church; 
that  as  the  ark  could  not  be  saved  but  by  water,  so 
must  all  the  Church  of  Christ  be  baptized.  So  plainly 
doth  this  whole  figure  speak  the  doctrine  of  the  Chris- 
tian Salvation,  that  it  is  applied  for  instruction  in  the 
office  of  Baptism,  where  we  are  taught  to  pray,  that 
the  child  may  be  received  into  the  ark  of  Christ's 
Church,  and  therein  pass  through  the  xvaves  of  this 
troublesome  world.  Many  other  particulars  belonging 
to  this  figure  will  explain  themselves  when  the  general 
sense  of  the  figure  is  understood  ;  and  therefore  I  need 
pursue  it  no  further. 

The  confusion  of  tongues,  with  the  dispersion  of 
the  nations,  is  another  great  event,  which  comes  next 
in  order  of  time,  and  ought  not  to  be  unnoticed,  be- 
cause it  was  reversed  when  all  the  nations,  so  divided 
at  Babel,  were  gathered  together  in  one  in  Christ  Je- 
sus, to  be  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people:  and  the 
different  languages  which  arose  at  Babel  were  all  uni- 
ted in  the  tongues  of  the  first  preachers  of  the  Gospel 
oh  the  day  of  Pentecost.  God  being  the  fountain  of 
truth  and  author  of  peace,  his  religion  makes  itself  in- 
telligible to  all ;  but  where  there  is  disobedience  of 
mind  and  wickedness  of  principle,  there  do  confusion 


Lect.  6.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  J  1 1 

and  division  ensue,  as  in  the  first  religious  rebellion  at 
Babel.  Against  such  people,  this  judgment  is  de- 
nounced by  the  Psalmist ;  Destroy,  0  Lord,  and  di- 
vide their  tongues,  for  I  have  seen  violence  and  strife 
in  the  city.*  The  city  of  God  is  at  unity  with  itself 
but  the  city  of  the  adversary,  like  Babel,  the  Mother 
of  Harlots,  is  the  Citadel  of  dispute  and  division. 
The  fah>e  wisdom  of  this  world  begins  and  ends  (if 
error  has  any  end)  with  disputation  and  opposition. 
We  see  an  example  of  this  in  the  multitude  of  gods, 
and  the  many  strange  rites  of  worship,  with  the  end- 
less opposition  of  science  falsely  so  called,  which  arose 
among  the  Sects  of  the  Heathen  Philosophers  when  the 
Greek  and  Roman  learning  flourished  :  and  (to  come 
nearer  our  own  times)  in  the  multitude  of  sectaries  and 
heresies  which  have  arisen  since  the  Reformation,  in 
this  country,  amongst  those  who  paid  no  regard  to  the 
doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  primitive  Church.  In  a 
word,  all  those  who  set  up  themselves,  and  affected 
high  things,  in  opposition  to  the  wisdom  of  God,  are 
cursed  with  confusion  ;  and  there  is  no  greater  evidence 
of  their  error,  than  that  they  are  never  able  to  speak 
the  same  language. 

After  the  events  of  the  flood,  and  the  dispersion  at 
Babel,  the  destruction  of  Sodom  is  to  be  understood 
as  a  sign  or  prophetic  figure  of  the  future  destruction 
of  the  world  by  fire,  together  with  the  deliverance  of 
the  faithful  after  the  example  of  Lot.  This  history  is 
referred  to  in  the  11th  Psalm,  where  the  wicked  are 

*  Psalm  lv.  9. 


112  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  6. 

threatened  with  fire  and  brimstone  to  be  rained  upon 
them  from  the  Lord,  as  formerly  upon  Sodom.  St. 
Jude,  in  bis  epistle,  warns  us  that  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah are  set  forth  for  an  example,*  suffering  the  ven- 
geance of  eternal  fire.  And  that  short  admonition 
of  our  Saviour  in  one  of  his  discourses,  Remember 
Lofs  wife,  teaches  us  what  we  ought  to  learn  from  the 
particulars  of  the  story  ;  that  as  the  world  shall  be  de- 
stroyed by  fire  like  Sodom ,  so  a  remnant  shall  be  sav- 
ed by  the  divine  mercy ;  and  that  of  those  who  are 
taken  by  the  hand  to  follow  their  deliverer,  and  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come  (which  is  another  allusion  to 
the  same  event)  some  shall  turn  back  in  their  hearts 
and  affections  toward  this  wicked  world,  and  so  be 
unfit  for  the  kingdom  of  God:  a  circumstance  which 
should  be  thought  upon  with  fear  and  trembling :  for 
consider  how  that  unbelieving  soul,  by  favouring  what 
was  evil,  lost  all  that  was  good,  when  it  was  in  her 
power  to  escape ;  as  they  will  not  fail  to  do,  who  either 
disbelieve  God's  judgment  upon  the  world,  or  think 
the  world  undeserving  of  it,  and  so  take  part  with  the 
wicked  against  the  justice  of  God.  When  times  and 
places  are  evil,  and  wickedness  prevails  with  a  high 
hand,  the  universality  and  power  of  corruption  is 
dreadful  to  think  of.  When  the  world  was  drowned, 
few,  that  is,  eight  souls  only  were  saved  in  the  ark  ; 
and  when  Sodom  was  overthrown,  a  small  remnant 
only  were  delivered  ;  whence  we  are  to  expect,  that 
as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Lot,  so  shall  it  be  in  the  day 

*Jude  ver.  7. 


Lbct.  6.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  U3 

when  the  son  of  man  is  revealed:  confidence  in  this 
world,  and  an  insolent  disregard  of  truth  and  godliness 
shall  generally  prevail,  and  lew  indeed  shall  be  left  to 
receive  him,  and  escape  with  him,  when  this  Sodom 
wherein  we  now  live  shall  be  visited. 

From  a  likeness  of  character  in  the  Jewish  people,  when 
they  became  abominable  in  their  sins,  the  name  of  So- 
dom is  given  to  their  city,  and  they  are  threatened  with 
the  same  fate.  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord,  ye  rulers  of 
Sodom  ;  give  ear  unto  the  law  of  our  God,  ye  people 
oj  Gomorrah  ;  saith  the  prophet  Isaiah.*  The  prophets 
message  is  to  Judah  and  Jerusalem  ;  the  rulers  and  peo- 
ple of  which  being  fallen  into  great  corruption,  and 
strengthening  themselves  in  their  wickedness,  are  ad- 
dressed by  the  prophet  as  the  rulers  and  people  of  the 
abominable  Sodom ;  and  he  pronounces  that  they  would 
have  met  with  the  judgment  of  Sodom,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  faithful  who  were  still  left  amongst  them,  such 
as  Abraham  hoped  to  find  when  he  interceded  for 
Sodom  :  Except  the  Lord  of  Hosts  had  lejt  unto  us 
a  very  small  remnant,  we  should  have  been  like  unto 
Gomorrah,]-  that  is,  as  like  unto  them  in  their  punish- 
ment as  they  were  in  their  manners.  And  now  we 
shall  see  the  reason  why  the  evangelist,  in  the  book  of 
Revelation,  speaks  of  a  great  city,  which  spiritually  is 
called  Egypt  and  Sodom,  where  our  Lord  was  cruci- 
fied ;  for  certainly  our  Lord  was  crucified  at  Jerusa- 
lem, and  Jerusalem,  for  its  apostacy  and  the  judgment 


*Chap.  i.  10.  f  Isaiah  i.  9. 

15 


114  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  6. 

that  was  to  overtake  it,  is  called  by  these  names  in  the 
prophets :  though  the  passage  as  it  stands  in  the  Re- 
velation may  be  extended  from  the  example  of  Jerusa- 
lem, to  the  world  at  large. 

I  pass  over  the  allegorical  history  of  Abraham, 
Sarah,  and  Hagar,  the  bond- woman  and  the  free,  be- 
cause it  hath  been  so  fully  commented  upon  by  the 
apostle  as  a  figure  of  the  Jewish  and  Christian  cove- 
nants. I  cannot  add  to  this  explanation;  and  as  I 
should  be  unwilling  to  contract  it,  I  rather  chuse  to 
refer  you  to  the  consideration  of  it,  as  it  stands  in  the 
fourth  chapter  of  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians  ;  and  shall 
proceed  to  the  deliverance  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  edifying  his- 
tories of  scripture ;  as  it  gives  us  an  example  of  all 
the  dangers,  temptations,  and  deliverances  that  can 
happen  in  the  life  of  man,  during  his  progress  and  pil- 
grimage through  the  wilderness  of  this  present  world. 
For,  in  the  first  place,  the  translation  of  the  church 
from  Egypt  to  Canaan  is  applied  in  all  its  circum- 
stances as  a  pattern  of  the  translation  of  us  Christians 
from  the  bondage  of  sin,  to  the  enjoyment  of  our  free- 
dom in  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Out  of  Egypt,  saith 
God  by  the  prophet,  have  I  called  my  Son  ,•*  a  declara- 
tion which  is  as  truly  verified  in  every  child  of  God  at 
this  day,  as  when  Israel  was  delivered  from  Pharaoh, 
and  when  the  infant  Jesus  was  brought  back  in  safety 
from  Egypt  to  his  own  kingdom  and  people. 


*  Hosea  xi. 


Lect.  6.}  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  215 

Thus  the  redemption  of  the  people  of  God  from 
Egypt  was  a  sign  of  a  greater  and  more  universal  re- 
demption, is  a  doctrine  with  which  few  readers  of  the 
scripture  can  be  unacquainted.  The  prophets  warned 
the  people  not  to  rest  in  the  redemption  that  was  past, 
but  to  look  for  another,  and  that  so  much  more  excel- 
lent in  its  nature,  that  the  former  should  in  a  manner 
be  forgotten  in  comparison  of  it :  Remember  not  the 
jormer  things,  neither  consider  the  things  of  old.  Be- 
hold, I  will  do  a  new  thing,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  even 
make  a  way  in  the  wilderness,  and  rivers  in  the  desert.* 
He  promised  also  in  one  of  the  Psalms,  that  he  would 
bring  his  own  people  again  from  the  depth  of  the  sea; 
which  can  signify  nothing  but  that  universal  redemp- 
tion from  sin  and  death  in  which  all  the  nations  of  the 
world  have  an  equal  interest :  because  this  Psalm  is 
not  addressed  to  the  Jews,  but  to  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  earth  ;  and  is  applied  by  the  apostle  to  the  victory 
of  Jesus  Christ  over  death,  and  to  the  miraculous  gifts 
bestowed  on  the  first  preachers  of  the  gospel  :f  so  that 
there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  intention  of  the  expres- 
sion in  question :  it  must  have  the  same  signification 
in  figures  as  is  expressed  in  the  letter  at  ver.  20 — to 
the  Lord  our  God  belong  the  issues  from  death.  , 

But  the  figurative  application  of  the  history  of  the 
Exodus  is  much  plainer  in  the  New  Testament. 
There  we  see  Zecharias,  in  his  prophetical  hymn  on 


*  Isaiah  xliii.  18. 
f  Compare  Psalm  Ixviii.  18.  and  Ephesiansiv.  8. 


115  OX  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  6 

occasion  of  the  birth  of  John  Baptist,  celebrating  the 
blessings  of  the  Christian  redemption  in  terms  borrow- 
ed from  the  past  redemption  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt.* 
God  is  said  to  have  visited  and  redeemed  his  people 
by  raising  up  a  Saviour  in  the  house  of  David — to 
have  performed  the  mercy  promised  to  the  fathers 
which  in  the  letter  of  it  related  to  the  deliverance  from 
Egypt — to  have  saved  us  out  of  the  hands  of  our  en- 
emies, that  we  might  serve  him  without  feary  as  the 
Hebrews  did,  when  they  were  no  longer  under  the 
power  of  Pharaoh — and  finally,  to  guide  our  feet  into 
the  way  of  peace,  as  he  had  before  guided  his  people 
to  a  peaceable  settlement  in  the  land  of  Canaan. 

If  we  consider  the  history  of  the  Exodus  more  par- 
ticular as  an  example  of  the  circumstances  of  our  re- 
demption by  Jesus  Christ ;  the  first  thing  that  offers 
itself  is  the  miserable  servitude  of  the  Hebrews  under 
Pharaoh.  Such  is  the  natural  state  of  every  man  who 
is  born  a  sojourner  in  the  Egypt  of  this  world.  As 
they  laboured  in  clay  and  mortar,  so  is  every  man  by 
nature  the  slave  of  vile  and  earthly  affections.  As  the 
Hebrews  were  under  Pharaoh,  man  is  under  Satan, 
the  proud  enemy  of  the  true  God,  and  the  irreconcil- 
able and  merciless  persecutor  of  his  church.  From 
this  miserable  state,  Christ,  as  the  messenger  and  min- 
ister ol  God,  is  sent  from  heaven  to  deliver  man,  as 
Moses  was  raised  up  for  a  like  purpose,  and  sent  to 
lead  the  people  out  of  Egypt ;  of  whose  office  we  shall 
have  a  farther  prospect  when  we  come  to  the  second 

*  See  the  Hymn  called  Benedictm. 


Lect.  6.}  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  J 17 

sort  of  historical  figures.  Look  at  the  order  of  the 
redemption  from  Egypt,  and  you  will  find  it  agree  in 
every  particular  with  the  order  of  the  Christian  salva- 
tion. The  people  were  conducted  to  the  waters  of 
the  Red-sea,  where  the  apostle  instructs  us  they  were 
all  baptized  unto  Moses  .•*  they  were  all  saved  by  wa- 
ter, as  the  family  of  Noah  had  before  been  saved  at 
the  flood,  and  as  we  are  saved  now.  It  doth  not  ap- 
pear to  us  how  they  could  have  been  saved  from  Phara- 
oh, but  by  the  interposition  of  the  waters  of  the  sea. 
Here  their  salvation  began,  and  the  power  of  their  ad- 
versary ended  :  and  we  know  that  Satan  has  not  that 
sovereignty  over  baptized  Christians  as  he  has  over 
men  in  the  state  of  nature. — After  baptism  a  Christian 
is  no  longer  the  subject  of  that  Tyrant,  but  the  child 
of  God,  who  undertakes  thenceforth  to  conduct  him 
through  all  the  trials  and  dangers  of  this  life  to  the  inhe- 
ritance promised  to  the  fathers. 

We  see  how  man  is  to  be  supported  in  this  life, 
and  to  what  dangers  he  is  exposed  in  the  way  of  his 
salvation,  if  we  observe  what  happened  to  the  Hebrews 
in  their  way  through  the  wilderness.  J\'o  temptation 
befals  us  but  such  as  is  common  to  man,  and  of  which 
their  case  gives  us  an  example.  The  things  which 
befel  them  are  not  only  apposite  and  applicable  to  our 
own  case,  but  St.  Paul  affirms  they  were  purposely 
ordained  by  the  providence  of  God  to  answer  this  very- 
end  :  Now  all  these  things  happened  to  them  for  en- 
samples  ;  (or,  as  the  margin  calls  them,  types)  and 

*  1  Cor.  x.  2. 


118  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  6. 

they  are  written  for  our  admonition.*  And  here  we 
are  to  note,  as  the  apostle  himself  does  next  after  their 
baptism,  how  they  were  fed  and  supported.  They 
might  have  been  carried  a  short  way  through  a  fruitful 
country  to  the  land  of  Canaan ;  but  it  pleased  God  to 
lead  them  into  a  wilderness,  where  there  was  neither 
meat  nor  drink  ;  which  made  some  of  them  suspect 
he  had  carried  them  there  to  destroy  them :  but  his 
design  was  to  teach  them  the  necessity  of  prayer  and 
faith  and  dependence  upon  himself;  and  blessed  are 
they  to  whom  the  Lord  now  teaches  the  same  lesson 
under  the  want  of  many  things.  But,  in  the  spirit, 
this  is  the  case  of  every  man ;  for  we  are  all  brought, 
after  our  baptism,  into  a  barren  world,  where  we  find 
no  more  to  support  that  life  which  God  promised  to 
his  people,  than  the  Hebrews  found  in  the  wilderness. 
Here  we  wander  (as  the  Psalmist  figuratively  describes 
the  state  of  man)  hungry  and  thirsty,  our  souls  fainting 
within  us,  and  depending  upon  God  for  his  daily  grace. 
The  people  were  taught  this  in  the  wilderness  by  re- 
ceiving their  meat  from  day  to  day  in  a  miraculous 
manner  from  heaven.  It  was  mere  manna,  such  as 
Moses  gave,  to  those  who  looked  no  farther  than  their 
bodies;  and  they  were  consequently  soon  tired  of  it; 
but  to  those  who  received  it  in  faith,  it  was  the  bread 
of  God  which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  giveth 
life  unto  the  world.  God  in  all  ages  Jias  been  the 
giver  of  that  support  which  is  necessary  to  all  men, 
whether  followers  of  Moses  or  followers  of  Christ  :f 

*  1  Cor.  x.  1 1.  f  See  John  vi.  32. 


Lect.  6.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  \\g 

and  Hebrews,  if  they  had  souls  to  be  saved,  could  no 
more  live  by  bread  alone,  than  Christians  can.  God 
therefore  was  pleased  to  take  this  way  of  teaching  them 
that  they  could  not :  and  the  apostle,  seeing  his  inten- 
tion, says,  They  did  eat  all  the  same  spiritual  meat ; 
and  did  all  drink  the  same  spiritual  drink  ;  for  they 
drank  oj  that  spiritual  rock  that  followed  them,  and 
that  rock  was  Christ.*  There  is  not  a  more  extra- 
ordinary sentence  in  the  scripture  than  this  before  us 
— that  rock  was  Christ.  It  is  impossible  to  take  the 
words  literally,  any  more  than  those  which  Christ 
spake  of  the  bread  which  he  brake,  and  said,  This 
is  my  body.  A  rock  of  stone  in  a  desert  could  not  be 
Christ  in  the  literal  sense ;  and  yet  it  must  be  so  in 
some  sense,  because  the  apostle  hath  affirmed  it. — 
This  sense  is  therefore  figurative  and  spiritual ;  as  the 
bread,  which  is  broken  in  the  holy  communion,  is 
bread  to  the  body,  but  Christ  to  the  spirit.  And  as 
Christ  was  the  invisible  fountain  of  grace  to  the  thirst- 
ing Israelites,  communicating  himself  to  them  by  the 
sacramental  waters  of  a  rock,  so  he  still  offers  himself 
to  us  in  the  same  capacity — If  any  man  thirst,  let  him 
come  unto  me  and  drink  ;\  that  is,  if  any  man,  sensible 
of  the  drought  and  emptiness  of  his  own  nature,  thirst 
after  spiritual  things,  he  shall  be  refreshed  with  grace, 
as  the  thirsty  body  is  refreshed  by  the  waters  of  a  liv- 
ing spring.  He  discoursed  to  the  same  effect  with 
the  woman  of  Samaria  by  the  side  of  a  well  to  which 


1  Cor.  x.  4.  f  John  vii.  37. 


120  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  6. 

she  came  to  draw  water — JVhosoever  drinketh  of  the 
water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst. 

But  now,  as  this  meat  and  drink  in  the  wilderness 
were  figures  of  Christ,  so  the  people  in  their  use  of 
them  are  ensamples  to  us.  God  shewed  them,  that 
man  is  in  want  of  some  nourishment,  which  nature  and 
the  common  course  of  things  cannot  give  him  ;  there- 
fore he  fed  them  with  manna  from  heaven  and  water 
from  a  dry  rock.  But  many  of  them  took  no  delight 
in  this  spiritual  diet.  Though  they  had  seen  the  won- 
ders of  the  Red-sea,  yet  they  carried  Egypt  with  them 
in  their  hearts  into  the  wilderness,  and  were  sorry 
they  had  leit  it.  He  who  reads  of  their  loathing  that 
light  bread,  and  desiring  to  return  to  the  bondage  of 
Egypt  for  the  gratification  of  their  lusts,  may  wonder 
at  their  stupidity ;  who  could  see  manna  sent  down 
from  the  heavens,  and  the  stream  of  a  river  running 
miraculously  through  a  dry  desert,  and  not  partake  of 
them  with  thankfulness  and  devotion !  But  he  will  find, 
when  he  looks  around  him,  that  men  are  just  such 
now  as  they  were  in  the  wilderness  :  carnal,  inatten- 
tive, and  wordly- minded.  Christians,  called  to  a  state 
of  salvation,  give  the  preference  to  that  world  which 
they  renounced  at  their  baptism,  and  bring  it  with 
them  into  the  Christian  profession,  as  the  Hebrews 
brought  Egypt  with  them  into  the  wilderness. — 
Whatever  you  think  of  the  manna  from  heaven,  and 
a  springing  well  from  a  stone  of  flint,  you  have  a 
greater  miracle  before  your  eyes  daily.  You  have 
Christ  come  down  to  be  the  life  of  the  world,  and  of- 
fering himself  as  the  true  manna  in  the  blessed  sacra- 


Lect.6.}  OFTHEHOLY  SCIUPTUKES.  J^21 

ment.  You  have  his  Spirit  and  his  word,  as  a  water 
of  life  attending  you  in  your  way  through  this  wilder- 
ness :  but  these  spiritual  blessings  have  their  value 
with  those  only  who  are  spiritually  minded.  Count 
the  congregation  of  Christians  in  any  parish,  and  see 
how  few  of  that  number  attend  the  holy  communion  : 
then  you  will  discover,  that  Christians  are  sick  of  this 
Jewish  distemper.  As  the  wonders  of  the  wilderness 
made  no  impression  on  those  who  were  still  affected 
to  Egypt ;  so  Christianity  can  offer  nothing  desirable 
to  those  whose  hearts  are  full  of  the  world.  Where 
there  is  an  attachment  to  fulness  of  feasting,  excess  of 
drinking,  and  to  the  other  prospects,  pleasures,  and 
profits  of  the  world,  there  can  be  no  spiritual  appetite. 
To  thirst  after  earthly  and  heavenly  things  at  the  same 
time,  is  as  impossible  as  to  serve  God  and  Mammon. 
Can  the  man,  who  makes  it  his  wish  and  his  pleasure 
to  be  drunk,  join  with  the  prophet  and  say — Like  as 
the  hart  desireth  the  water  brooks,  so  longeth  my 
soul  after  thee,  O  God.  My  soul  is  athirst  for  God, 
even  the  living  God:  when  shall  I  come  and  appear 
before  the  presence  of  God?  Doth  he  not  rather  say, 
"  Let  me  never  come  near  him,  for  I  have  no  relish 
for  his  ways  or  his  worship.  I  wish  there  were  no 
church,  no  sacraments,  no  preaching,  no  praying.  I 
was  baptized  to  be  a  member  of  Christ,  but  I  never 
desire  to  be  in  his  company.  Let  me  continue  to  be 
one  of  the  swine  of  Egypt,  as  I  have  hitherto  been, 
and  let  my  latter  end  be  like  theirs."  Such  is  the 
language  which  passes  in  many  hearts  when  it  is  put 
into  plain  English.    Men  are  called  by  different  names 

16 


122  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  «. 

at  distant  periods  of  time ;  but  the  workings  of  their 
minds  are  the  same  in  all  ages.  The  devout  Chris- 
tian follows  the  calling  of  God  at  this  day,  on  the  same 
motives  of  faith  as  the  Patriarchs  did  of  old,  and  con- 
siders this  life  as  a  pilgrimage ;  while  others  are  drawn 
away  by  the  world  and  the  flesh,  just  as  they  were 
whose  carcases  fell  in  the  wilderness.  They  were 
made  examples  to  us,  with  this  intention,  as  the  apos- 
tle instructs  us,  that  we  should  not  lust  after  evil 
things  as  they  also  lusted.*  If  we  look  to  their  his- 
tory in  the  book  of  Numbers,  we  find  how  discon- 
tented and  miserable  they  were  under  the  way  of  life 
to  which  God  had  brought  them:  The  children  of 
Israel  wept  again  and  said,  who  shall  give  us  flesh  to 
eat  ?  It  was  well  with  us  in  Egypt,  but  now  our  soul 
is  dried  away ;  there  is  nothing  at  all  besides  this 
manna  before  our  eyes.  Then  we  read  that  God  com- 
plied with  their  murmurings,  and  sent  them  meat  to 
the  full ;  but  sent  a  plague  after  it,  whereby  many 
were  destroyed  ;  and  the  place  received  its  name  from 
the  graves  of  those  who  were  buried  for  their  lusts. 

Here  the  child  of  this  world  may  see  his  own  pic- 
ture. It  is  his  object  to  gratify  himself  at  any  rate, 
without  considering  the  consequences.  His  Paradise 
is  this  Egypt :  self  denial  is  a  meagre  doctrine,  and 
there  is  nothing  to  be  got,  which  he  can  relish,  by  the 
service  of  God.  You  will  therefore  see  people  as 
fretful  and  cross  when  devotion  and  self-denial  come 
in  their  way,  as  the  weeping  Israelites,  who  complained 

*  1  Cor.  x.  6. 


Lect.  6.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  133 

that  the}-,  were  dried  up  with  eating  manna.     And  the 
consequence  is  as  it  was  of  old,  God  is  not  well  pleas- 
ed with  them :  and  sooner  or  later,  every  man  will  feel 
the  effect  of  setting  God  against  him  by  his  indiffer- 
ence and  disaffection.     Some  have  their  punishment  in 
that  fulness  which  they  have  desired.     Who  amongst 
us  cannot  recollect  many,  who  have  died  before  their 
time,   by  following  some   ungovcrned  appetite;  and 
come  to  the  same  end,  by  the  same  means,  as  they 
who  were  buried  at  Kibroth  Hataavah  ?  If  they  live 
long  to  enjoy  that  for  which  they  thought  it  worth  their 
while  to  murmur  against  and  despise  the  ways  of  God, 
they  suffer  miserably  in  another  respect:  as  it  is  said 
in  the  psalm,  He  gave  them  their  desire,  and  sent 
leanness  withal  into  their  soul  .•#  so  that  while  their 
bodies  were  thriving  their  souls  were  starving.     If  it 
were  possible  to  see  the  souls  of  some  such  people, 
they  would  look  worse  than  skin  and  bone  ;  wasting 
and  perishing  for  lack  of  that  grace  by  which  the  in- 
ner  man  is  renewed.     He  then  who  wishes  to  find 
death,  misery,  and  the  displeasure  of  God,  which  is 
worst  of  all,  let  him  turn  back  from  his  Christian  pro- 
fession, and  demand  satisfaction  for  all  his  lusts.    But 
let  him  who  wishes  to  find  Canaan  at  last,  be  content 
to  find  a  wilderness  in  the  way  to  it,  and  there  take 
with  thankfulness  what  God  has  appointed  for  him. 

*  Psalm  cvi.  15. 


124  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  7. 


LECTURE  VII. 

HISTORICAL  FIGURES  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES  CONTINUED. 

IN  the  preceding  Lecture,  we  have  seen  how  the 
dangers  of  the  Christian  warfare  are  set  before  us,  in  the 
history  of  the  Militant  State  of  the  Jewish  Church  in  its 
translation  from  Egypt  to  Canaan.  St.  Paul  hath 
expresly  taught  us,  to  consider  that  history  as  propheti- 
cal of  our  own  situation  as  Christians  ;  and  hath  shew- 
ed how  it  is  to  be  applied  as  an  admonition  or  warning 
to  us,  that  we  may  not  fall  after  the  same  example 
of  unbelief.  We  have  seen  how  the  people  who  had 
been  baptized  under  Moses,  and  had  passed  through 
the  Red- sea,  afterwards  preferred  the  slavery  of  Egypt 
to  the  service  of  God  in  the  wilderness ;  becoming 
weary  of  his  ways,  and  despising  the  better  for  love  of 
the  worse. 

But  we  followed  them  only  a  part  of  their  journey. 
Other  circumstances  are  yet  behind,  from  which  the 
like  instruction  is  to  be  gathered :  and  in  treating  of 
them,  I  shall  observe  the  same  order  as  the  apostle 
hath  done  in  the  10th  chapter  of  his  first  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  wherein  he  warns  us  not  to  be  idolaters, 
as  were  some  of  them  ;  as  it  is  written,  the  people  sat 
down  to  eat  and  drink,  and  rose  up  to  play.    This  re- 


Lect.7.J  OF  THIS  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ]25 

fers  us  to  the  occasion  of  their  making  a  golden  calf, 
and  worshipping  it  with  the  riotous  mirth  of  idolaters ; 
which  shewed  that  they  had  forsaken  the  true  object 
of  their  worship,  and  had  forgotten  the  true  design  of 
their  redemption  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt.  While 
Moses  was  in  conference  with  God  upon  the  mount, 
their  folly  had  taken  up  an  opinion  that  he  would  not 
return  to  them  ;  and  consequently,  that  they  might 
fall  into  licentiousness,  without  the  fear  of  being  call- 
ed to  an  account :  So  they  danced  before  a  golden 
calf,  and  gave  themselves  up  to  eating  and  drinking 
and  playing,  as  if  they  had  totally  forgotten  the  design  of 
their  journey  through  the  wilderness.  Are  these  the 
people  whom  God,  with  so  mighty  a  hand,  had  lately 
rescued  from  the  tyranny  of  Pharaoh  ?  Are  these  the 
people  who  had  seen  the  Maters  of  the  sea  divided,  to 
save  them  and  destroy  their  enemies  ?  who  had  fol- 
lowed a  cloud,  which  led  them  by  day,  and  gave  light 
to  them  by  night  ?  and  had  they  so  soon  forgotten  all 
these  wonders,  and  fallen  into  the  senseless  mirth  of 
idolatry  ?  Strange  it  is  !  but  such  was  the  fact.  And 
now  let  us  observe  the  consequence.  Moses,  whom 
they  had  forgotten,  descends  from  the  mount  when 
they  little  expected  him;  he  surprises  them  in  the 
midst  of  their  sin,  and  sends  the  Levites,  armed,  as 
his  ministers,  to  execute  vengeance  ;  who  smote  with 
the  sword  from  one  side  of  the  camp  to  the  other,  and 
there  fell  some  thousands  of  the  people.  Our  Savi- 
our, in  one  of  his  discourses,  hath  applied  this  history 
as  an  admonition  to  those  careless  sinners,  who  live  in 
pleasure,  and  are  unmindful  of  Him  who  will  shortly 


126  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  7. 

return  to  be  their  judge  :  But  if  that  evil  servant  shall 
say  in  his  heart,  my  Lord  delay eth  his  coming,  and 
shall  begin  to  smite  his  fellow  servants,  and  to  eat  and 
drink  with  the  drunken  ;  the  Lord  of  that  servant  shall 
come  in  a  day  when  he  looketh  not  for  him,  and  in 
an  hour  that  he  is  not  aware  of  and  will  cut  him  in 
sunder,  and  appoint  him  his- portion  with  the  unbeliev- 
ers.* This  brings  the  history  home  to  ourselves. 
As  Moses  for  a  time  left  the  people  in  the  wilderness, 
so  hath  our  Leader  left  us,  and  he  is  now  up  with  God 
in  the  holy  mount.  In  this  interval,  there  are  Christians 
(so  called)  who  wot  not  what  is  become  of  him,  and 
make  a  profane  use  of  his  absence ;  setting  up  this 
world,  in  some  form  or  other,  as  their  idol,  and  devot- 
ing themselves  to  the  worship  of  it.  Whatever  the 
object  may  be,  which  any  man  has  substituted  in  the 
place  of  God,  that  object  is  to  him  what  the  calf  was 
to  the  Hebrews.  How  many  are  there  who  spend 
their  lives  in  the  dance  of  pleasure,  as  if  they  had  been 
sent  hither  for  no  other  purpose  !  others  devote  them- 
selves to  honours  and  preferments ;  and,  to  accomplish 
their  designs,  affect  popularity,  and  worship  the  beasts 
of  the  people.  Wealth  is  the  object  of  others  ;  and 
theirs  is  a  calf  of  gold.  The  covetous  serve  mammon, 
the  God  of  riches ;  and  the  sin  of  covetousness  is  ex- 
pressly called  by  the  name  of  Idolatry,  f     Are  these 


*Luke  xii.  44. 
f  The  learned  Mr.  Parkhurst,  in  his  Greek  Lexicon  of  the 
New  Testament,  gives  very  good  reasons  why  we  ought  rather 
here  to  understand  the  sin  of  unlawful  lusls,  as  in  that  other 


Lect.  7.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  J2J 

the  people  of  God?  Are  these  they  who  were  baptized 
info  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  as  dead  unto  sin  and 
alive  unto  righteousness  ?  Are  these  the  children  of 
Abraham  ;  followers  of  them  who  through  faith  and 
patience  obtained  the  promises  ?  Merciful  God,  what 
a  transformation  is  this !  Are  they  not  rather  of  those 
unprofitable  servants,  whom  the  Lord  at  his  return 
from  the  mount  shall  surprise  and  judge  as  hypocrites 
and  unbelievers? 

We  have  another  example  of  our  danger  from  the 
case  of  the  Israelites,  who  fell  into  sin  from  evil  com- 
munications and  bad  company.  There  was  a  rnixt 
multitude  of  strolling  Egyptians  and  disorderly  people 
who  went  up  with  the  Hebrews  out  of  Egypt,  and  at- 
tended their  camp  from  motives  of  curiosity  or  beggary. 
These  are  said  to  have  fallen  a  lusting,  and  to  have  pro- 
pagated their  e\  il  inclinations  among  the  congregation ; 
who,  led  by  their  example,  provoked  God  with  their 
discontent  and  murmurings.  The  Christian  church 
hath  always  been  attended  by  a  like  unprincipled  mul- 
titude of  heretics,  sensualists,  enthusiasts,  sectaries, 
and  even  atheists  ;  men,  who  being  discontented  with 
the  ways  and  doctrines  of  the  Christian  society,  have 
recommended  and  spread  their  own  evil  opinions,  and 
occasioned  multitudes  to  fall  away.  A  defection  from 
the  doctrines  of  Christianity  is  the  natural  consequence 
of  a  departure  from  the  worship  and  sacraments  and 
authority  of  the  Church.     Some  of  the  earliest  in- 


expression,  whose    God  is  their  belly.     See  under  the  word 


128  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  T. 

stances  of  blasphemy  against  the  doctrine  of  the  bless- 
ed Trinity,  were  found  among  ignorant  people  in  those 
times  of  confusion  and  rebellion,  when  a  mixt  multi- 
tude of  more  than  sixty  different  sects  arose,  even  to 
the  astonishment  of  those  who  first  began  the  separa- 
tion.* But  afterwards  the  same  error  was  adopted  by 
men  of  higher  pretensions  to  learning,  who  have  found 
too  many  followers ;  till  the  times  have  at  length  pro- 
duced a  new  generation  of  opinionists,  who  assume  to 
themselves,  and  attribute  to  one  another,  the  honours 
of  confession  and  martyrdom,  for  asserting  the  blas- 
phemy of  Socinus  against  the  church  and  the  kingdom 
of  Christ,  with  the  same  boldness,  as  the  saints  in  the 
primitive  times,  asserted  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel 
against  the  heathen  powers  and  the  kingdom  of  Satan. 
But  boldness  without  truth  will  never  make  a  Chris- 
tian confessor  :  and  if  a  man  injures  himself  for  the 
love  of  error,  he  is  not  a  martyr  but  a  suicide. 

They  who  are  acquainted  with  the  world,  and  the 
present  state  of  religion  and  literature,  must  have  ob- 
served, that  heresy,  schism,  and  the  new  philosophy 
of  the  Deists,  with  their  numerous  adherents,  form  a 
mixed  multitude,  which  are  always  hovering  about 
the  Christian  camp,  and  never  foil  to  corrupt  it.  They 


*  An  authentic  and  very  curious  account  of  the  errors  and 
blasphemies  of  that  time,  (two  years  before  the  death  of  the 
king,)  was  published  in  a  treatise,  entitled,  Gaugrcena,  by  Tho- 
mas Edwards,  Presbyterian  minister,  of  which,  see  part  1.  p.  32, 
110.  But  see  also  Burnett's  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  An. 
1549.  vol.  2.  p.  Ill,  112. 


Lect.  7.\  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^9 

are  now  boasting  of  their  success,  and  threaten  to 
overwhelm  this  church  in  a  very  short  time  with  a  de- 
luge of  Unitarianism,  that  is,  of  Mahometan  InfidelU 
ty.* 

The  destruction  of  three  and  twenty  thousand  was 
occasioned  by  the  Israelites  associating  with  the  peo- 
ple of  Midian,  who  invited  them  to  the  feasts  of  their 
idols ;  in  consequence  of  which,  they  fell  into  shame- 
less fornication   after  the   manner  of  the  Heathens. 
And  as  there  were  wicked  Midianites  and  Moabites 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  camps,  so  is  there  a  wick- 
ed world  always  near  at  hand,  ready  to  invite  and  se- 
duce the  servants  of  God  by  its  ensnaring  customs  and 
diversions.     To  mix  with  the  world  on  all  occasions, 
and  not  be  corrupted  by  its  ways,  is  almost  as  unlikely 
as  that  the  Hebrews  should  go  to  an  idol- feast  with 
the  Midianites,  and  not  be  the  worse  for  it.     What 
is  the  natural  tendency  of  many,  and  even  the  design 
of  some  public  diversions  tolerated  among  Christians, 
but  to    corrupt    youth    and  give    opportunities    to 
vice?  How  are  most  of  the  scenes  of  public  diversion 
crowded  with  the  daughters  of  Midian,  who  are  well 
aware,  that  what  is  there  to  be  seen  and  heard  will 
seldom  fail  to  encourage  the  vicious,  and  betray  some 
of  the  innocent,  into  their  snares  !  wherever  any  public 
meetings  have  this  tendency  to  corrupt  the  manners  we 
may  call  them  by  what  names  we  please,  but  they  are 
as  Moab  and  Midian,  if  they  are  the  enemies  of  Chris- 
tian virtue. 

*  See  Priestly's  Sermon  on  Free  Enquiry. 
17 


130  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  7- 

Balak,  the  king  of  the  Moabites,  hated  the  camp  of 
Israel,  and  bribed  Balaam,  a  prophet,  to  curse  them. 
Just  thus  doth  the  world  hate  the  church,  and  is  never 
happier  than  when  it  can  hire  the  ministers  of  the 
church  to  turn  against  it  and  betray  its  interests.  But 
it  can  no  more  succeed  by  all  its  curses  than  the  wick- 
ed Balak  could :  it  must  seduce  Christians  to  sin,  and 
then  it  prevails  ;  not  by  its  own  power,  but  by  temp- 
ting the  church  to  provoke  the  anger  of  God.  When 
Balaam  found  that  he  could  prevail  nothing  by  his  sa- 
crifices and  enchantments,  then  he  gave  counsel  to 
Balak  to  corrupt  the  people  of  the  camp  with  fornica- 
tion ;  and  that  soon  answered  the  purpose. 

But  now  we  are  to  learn  another  lesson,  from  the 
example  of  those  who  are  said  to  have  tempted  Christ 
with  their  impatience  under  the  ways  of  providence. 
When  the  people  expected  to  see  an  end  of  their  jour- 
neyings,  it  pleases  God  still  to  lead  them  round  about 
but  being  weary  of  this  unsettled  life,  we  are  told,  that 
the  soul  of  the  people  was  much  discouraged  because 
of  the  way  :*  and,  to  punish  their  impatience  on  this 
occasion,  fiery  serpents  were  sent  to  destroy  them. 
But  when  Moses  prayed  for  them,  he  was  directed  to 
place  a  serpent  on  a  pole,|  and  when  they  who  were 
bitten  looked  up  to  it,  they  were  saved  from  death. 
Our  Saviour  hath  applied  this  to  the  lifting  up  of  him- 
self upon  the  cross,  where  the  serpent  that  hath  the 


*  Numbers  xxi.  4. 
f  In  the  heathen  mythology,  a  serpent,  twisted  about  a  stick, 
is  the  emblem  of  health,  and  the  ensign  of  Esculapius. 


Lect.  7.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  j3| 

power  of  death,  was  to  be  vanquished.;  that  they  who 
ace  wounded  by  sin,  and  in  danger  of  eternal  death, 
may  look  up  to  him  and  live.  What  was  the  offence 
of  the  people  ?  It  was  impatience.  What  was  their 
punishment?  They  were  delivered  to  the  power  of  the 
destroyer.  What  was  the  remedy  ?  They  were  di- 
rected to  look  up  to  a  figure  of  the  cross.  And  where 
should  the  impatient  now  look  up,  but  to  Jesus,  the 
author  and  finisher  of  their  faith ;  that  great  example 
of  patient  suffering,  who  for  their  sakes  endured  the 
cross  and  despised  the  shame  of  it.  If  we  are  tempt- 
ed to  be  weary  and  faint  in  your  minds,  when  the 
Providence  of  God  is  leading  us  by  some  tedious  and 
disagreeable  way  against  our  will,  then  we  are  to  look 
up  to  this  pattern  of  patience,  and  to  consider,  how  he 
took  the  painful  way  of  the  cross,  and  submitted  his 
own  will  to  the  will  of  God.  With  this  example 
before  us,  let  us  ask  ourselves,  whether  we  have  any 
thing  to  complain  of;  we  who  ought  to  have  been 
there  instead  of  him!  In  his  death  we  see  the  victory 
that  overcometh  the  world.  For  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  him,  he  waited  till  the  great  work  of  our  salva- 
tion was  finished  :  and  we  are  to  wait  in  like  manner, 
till  all  the  designs  of  Providence  are  accomplished  in 
us ;  for  we  can  inherit  the  promises  on  no  other  con- 
dition :  He  that  endureth  unto  the  end,  the  same  sliall 
be  saved. 

But  salvation,  such  as  God  hath  promised,  is  not 
an  object  to  all  men.  Some  have  no  opinion  of  it ;  as 
there  were  those  amongst  the  people  in  the  wilderness, 
who  thought  scorn  of  that  pleasant  land  to  which  they 


132  GN  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  7- 

were  going,  When  the  spies  who  were  sent  to  view 
the  land  of  Canaan,  made  their  report  of  it,  and  brought 
back  with  them  some  of  its  fruits,  they  differed  very- 
much  in  their  accounts.  They  who  proved  faithful 
and  told  the  truth,  said  it  was  an  exceeding  good  land, 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey  ;  and  that  they  were  well 
able,  with  God  on  their  side,  to  take  possession  of  it, 
and  overcome  the  inhabitants,  whose  defence  was  de- 
parted from  them.  Others  brought  up  an  evil  report 
of  the  land  which  they  had  searched :  they  described 
it  as  a  land  which  ate  up,  that  is,  starved  its  inhabi- 
tants; and  that  these  were  men  of  a  gigantic  stature, 
to  whom  ordinary  men  were  but  as  grasshoppers. 
This  latter  report  found  too  much  credit :  and  the  con- 
gregation was  so  discouraged  and  terrified  by  it,  that 
they  lift  up  their  voices  and  wept;  and  they  murmur- 
ed against  Moses  and  Aaron  for  bringing  them  into 
these  insuperable  difficulties,  and  even  determined  to 
make  them  another  captain  and  go  back.  This  is  the 
act  of  unbelief  for  which  they  were  doomed  to  fall  in 
the  wilderness;  without  being  permitted  to  see  that 
land  which  they  would  take  no  pains  to  win. 

Such  is  the  case  of  those  fearful  minds  and  faint 
hearts,  which  say  there  is  a  Hon  in  the  way,  and  mag- 
nify all  the  difficulties  of  the  Christian  warfare.  The 
heavenly  land,  as  they  conceive  it,  and  as  they  hear 
from  people  like  themselves,  is  not  a  place  that  would 
make  them  happy.  Besides  there  are  such  tempta- 
tions in  the  way  as  no  man  can  resist.  Vice  is  strong 
and  nature  is  weak.  The  gospel  prescribes  a  way  of 
life  that  would  starve  people,  and  takes  away  all  their 


Lect.  7.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^ 

comfort. — Therefore  when  all  things  are  considered, 
nothing  is  to  be  done,  but  to  give  up  the  cause,  and 
go  back  to  the  opinions  and  ways  of  the  children  of 
this  world. 

If  I  may  give  you  my  own  sentiment,  I  do  not  sup- 
pose there  is  a  sin  upon  earth  more  hateful  to  God, 
than  this  of  undervaluing  his  promises,  distrusting  his 
protection,  and  making  unjust  representations  either 
of  his  religion  itself,  or  of  the  rewards  of  it ;  as  if  his 
service  were  hard,  or  the  end  of  it  not  worth  attaining. 
This  I  can  tell  you,  that  such  people  are  often  made 
more  miserable,  and  suffer  worse  agitations  of  mind 
from  disappointments  in  the  way  of  their  own  chusing, 
than  the  most  abstracted  saint  ever  suffered  from  the 
practice  of  self-denial  in  the  way  of  godliness.  For 
we  may  lay  it  down  as  a  certain  rule,  that  they  who 
have  no  faith  to  see  the  value  of  the  other  world,  have 
not  the  wit  to  use  this  properly  :  and  no  man  need 
wish  his  worst  enemy  more  wretched  than  the  abuse 
of  this  world  will  make  him.  But,  on  the  contrary, 
what  words  can  describe  the  blessedness  of  him ,  who 
depending  on  the  promises  of  God,  conquers  the  diffi- 
culties of  life,  and  hath  hope  in  his  death!  such  an 
hope  as  is  signified  by  the  divine  Psalmist,  in  words 
much  to  our  present  purpose — /  should  utterly  have 
fainted^  but  that  I  verily  believed  to  see  the  goodness 
of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living.  As  if  he  had 
said,  "  I  believe  the  report  concerning  that  good  land, 
to  the  possession  of  which  we  are  journeying;  I  know 
the  value  of  it,  and  that  the  Lord  himself  is  my  de- 
fence by  the  way  ;  and  so  my  heart  hath  not  failed 


134  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lzct.7. 

me :  therefore  I  give  the  same  advice  to  all ;  If  ait  on 
the  Lord;  be  of  good  courage,  and  he  shall  strengthen 
thine  heart :  h°  who  led  Joshua  to  victory  in  the  pro- 
mised land,  shall  bring  down  the  walls  of  the  mighty, 
and  support  thee  against  all  that  appears  gigantic  and 
terrible  in  the  way  of  thy  salvation."  St.  Paul,  hav- 
ing pointed  out  to  us,  and  applied  all  these  figures  as 
examples  to  us  under  the  gospel,  draws  this  weighty 
moral  from  the  history  of  our  fathers  who  journeyed 
in  the  wilderness:  "  Wherefore  let  him  tliat  thinketh 
he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall.  There  hath  no 
temptation  befallen  you,  but  such  as  is  common  to 
man :  but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to 
be  tempted  above  that  ye  are  able,  but  will,  with  the 
temptation  also,  make  a  way  to  escape  that  ye  may 
be  able  to  bear  it/'*  This  is  the  doctrine  we  are  to 
learn  from  their  history.  He  that  standeth  may  now 
fall  through  unbelief,  as  they  did ;  he  that  has  been 
brought  out  of  Egypt,  may  fall  in  the  wilderness  ; 
therefore  let  us  pass  the  time  of  our  sojourning  here 
in  fear.  But  then,  as  God  is  still  with  us,  we  are 
never  to  be  discouraged  in  the  time  of  trial,  nor  to 
doubt  of  his  protection.  If  there  is  a  sea  on  one  side, 
and  a  host  of  Egyptians  on  the  other,  and  there  seems 
no  way  to  escape,  the  waters  shall  be  divided,  and 
the  Egyptians  shall  be  overthrown.  If  there  is  neither 
bread  nor  water  in  appearance,  some  improbable 
causes  shall  give  us  a  supply  of  Both  :  some  flinty 
stone  shall  become  a  springing  well,  and  the  heavens 

*  1  Cor.  x.  12,  13. 


L«ct.  7.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  135 

above  shall  give  us  meat  enough.  Then  for  the  sick- 
nesses of  the  soul,  we  have  the  remedy  of  the  cross ; 
and  against  the  gigantic  race  of  Anak,  a  defender  who 
will  never  leave  us  nor  forsake  us :  howsoever  great 
and  formidable  the  enemies  of  the  Christian  may 
appear,  Greater  is  he  that  is  in  us  than  he  that  is  in 
the  world. 

Though  it  is  the  design  of  these  Lectures  rather  to 
interpret  the  scriptures  than  to  apply  it ;  yet  we  are 
to  consider  the  application  as  the  end,  and  the  interpre- 
tation as  the  means  :  therefore  I  cannot  help  indulging 
myself  sometimes  in  dwelling  upon  the  moral  part, 
which  is  the  most  edifying  of  all.     The  history  of  the 
church  in  the  wilderness  is  figurative,  and  we  have 
learned  what  it  signifies :  but  what  good  will  this  know- 
lege  do  us,  if  there  is  no  counsel  with  it?  What  shall  we 
gain  by  seeing  how  men  were  lost,  unless  we  take  ad- 
vice from  thence  and  learn  how  we  may  be  saved  ?     I 
therefore  do  not  spare,  when  occasion  offers,  to  add  to 
my  interpretations  such  spiritual  advice  as  arises  out 
of  them.     The  length  and  labour  of  my  undertaking  is 
the  greater  upon  this  account ;  but  I  hope  your  profit 
will  be  greater  in  proportion.     The  church  that  went 
from  Egypt  to  Canaan  gives  us  an  example  of  every 
thing  that  can  happen  to  the  Christian  church  from  the 
beginning  of  it  even  to  the  end  of  the  world :  there- 
fore no  historical  figure  of  the  scripture  is  of  more 
importance  to  us  than  this  journey  of  the  Hebrews 
through  the  wilderness :  and  I  ought  not  yet  to  lay  it 
aside.    For  there  are  two  particulars  remaining,  which 
are  of  great  signification :  the  one  is  the  rebellion  of 


136  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         JLect.7. 

Corah,  and  the  other  is  the  settlement  of  the  church 
in  Canaan,  a  land  of  the  Gentiles. 

St.  Jude,  in  his  epistle  concerning  the  corruption  of 
the  church,  speaks  of  some  who  perished  in  the  gain- 
saying of  Corah  ;  therefore  this  same  evil  which  hap- 
pened in  the  church  of  Moses,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
church  of  Christ,  and  it  behoves  us  to  consider  what 
it  was.     Corah  and  his  company  had  no  dispute  about 
the  object  or  form  of  divine  worship ;  they  questioned 
none  of  the  doctrines  of  the  law  ;  they  rose  up  against 
the  persons  of  Moses  and  Aaron ;  that  is,  against  the 
civil  and   ecclesiastical  authority  ;    contending   that 
themselves   and  all  the   congregation  had   an  equal 
right ;  that  Moses  and  Aaron  had  taken  too  much 
upon  themselves  ;  and  by  exercising  an  usurped  au- 
thority, were  abusing  and  making  fools  of  the  people. 
This  was  their  sin,  and  they  maintained  it  to  the  last, 
and  perished  in  it.     It  was  the  dispute  of  popular 
power  against  divine  authority  :  and  wherever  the  like 
pretensions  are  avowed  by  Christians,  and  the  same 
arguments  used  in  support  of  tbem,  there  we  see  the 
gainsaying  of  Corah.    It  is  a  lamentable  circumstance 
attending  this  sin,  that  it  inspires  great  boldness  and 
obstinacy,  such  as  we  read  of  in  Corah  and  his  party. 
Other  sinners  are  apt  to  be  ashamed  of  themselves  ; 
but  these  never ;  because  they  assert  their  own  sanc- 
tity in  the  act  of  their  disobedience.     When  they  set 
up  human  right  against  that  which  is  by  God's  ap- 
pointment ;  the  more  proud  and  obstinate  they  are, 
the  more  colour  they  seem  to  give  to  their  pretensions. 
It  is  one  reason  why  rebellion  was  so  severely  punish- 


Lect.  7.}  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  I37 

ed  in  Corah,  and  is  now  so  severely  punished  in  the 
New  Testament,  that  men  are  never  known  to  repent 
of  it.  In  vain  did  Moses  exclaim  and  remonstrate 
against  the  wickedness  of  Corah  :  he  and  all  his  party 
preserved  the  same  good  opinion  of  themselves,  and 
persisted  in  it  to  the  last ;  even  appealing  to  God  him- 
self, though  they  were  risen  up  against  God's  minis- 
ters, till  the  earth  opened,  and  the  tire  devoured  them. 
From  this  example  of  Corah,  we  are  to  learn,  that 
God  considers  all  opposition  against  lawful  authority, 
as  a  sin  against  himself.  He  declares  that  rebellion 
is  as  the  sin  of  witchcraft,  and  stubbornness  is  as  ini- 
quity and  idolatry:*  the  meaning  of  which,  as  it 
stands  in  the  book  of  Samuel,  is  this  ;  that  if  a  man 
were  a  Jew,  and  yet  a  rebel,  he  might  as  well  be  an 
heathen :  if  he  were  too  stubborn  to  submit  to  the 
ordinances  of  God,  he  might  as  well  be  a  sorcerer, 
or  serve  idols.  And  it  is  worthy  of  observation, 
that  this  severe  sentence  is  against  Saul,  a  king,  who 
usurped  the  authority  of  the  priesthood,  and  pleaded 
a  godly  reason  for  it.  But  so  jealous  is  God,  for  the 
wisest  ends,  upon  this  subject,  that  no  dignity  of  per- 
son, no  appearance  of  reason,  is  admitted  in  excuse 
for  the  sin  of  rebellion.  We  therefore  rightly  pray  in 
the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England,  that  God  would 
deliver  us  from  rebellion  in  the  state  and  schism  in  the 
church  ;  and  in  order  to  this,  we  should  also  pray,  that 
he  would  deliver  us  from  the  principles  out  of  which 


Samuel  xv.  23. 
18 


138  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect. 

they  proceed  ;  for  none  of  our  reasonings  will  prevail 
in  this  case. — For  my  own  part,  I  must  confess,  that 
if  there  is  any  man  who  is  so  far  infatuated  as  to  have 
persuaded  himself  that  God  is  no  proprietor  of  power 
in  the  world  of  his  own  making  and  governing,  and 
that  all  men  are  born  to  a  state  of  equality;  I  would 
no  more  reason  with  that  man,  than  I  would  preach 
temperance  to  a  swine,  or  honesty  to  a  wolf.  I  would 
leave  him  to  himself,  and  turn  toward  those  who  have 
not  yet  received  the  infection. 

The  settlement  of  the  church  of  the  Hebrews  in 
Canaan,  a  land  of  the  Heathens,  is  the  last  article  I  am 
to  explain,  as  prefigurative  of  the  Christian  church.  It 
is  mentioned  as  such  in  the  apology  of  St.  Stephen 
against  the  Jews  :  Our  fathers  had  the  tabernacle  of 
witness  in  the  wilderness,  which  also  our  fathers  that 
came  after  brought  in  with  Jesus  (i.  e.  Joshua)  into 
the  possession  of  the  Gentiles,  whom  God  drove  out 
before  the  face  of  our  j others. — The  doctrine,  of  all 
others  most  unacceptable  and  odious  to  a  Jew,  was 
this  of  the  translation  of  the  tabernacle  of  God  to  the 
Gentiles.  St.  Stephen  therefore  does  not  literally 
affirm  it,  but  covertly,  and,  as  a  prophet  should  do, 
under  the  shadow  of  that  ancient  history  which  was 
intended  to  foreshew  it.  The  Jewish  church  derived 
much  danger  from  its  situation  among  the  Canaanites; 
for  though  God  had  driven  them  out  as  possessors, 
and  established  his  own  people  in  their  land,  he  left 
some  of  the  former  possessors  to  be  thorns  in  their 
sides  for  trial  and  punishment :  and  their  history  shews 
how  often  they  were  ensnared  by  the  abominable  doc- 


Lect.7.J  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^39 

brines  of  idolatry,  until  the  captivity  of  Babylon  was 
the  reward  of  their  apostacy. 

Wonderful  was  the  settlement  of  the  Jews  in  Ca- 
naan, with  the  fall  of  Jericho,  and  the  victories  of  the 
people  of  God  against  all  the  armaments  and  confe- 
deracies of  their  enemies.  But  not  less  wonderful 
was  the  establishment  of  Christianity  amongst  the 
Gentiles.  Heathenism  was  in  as  full  and  quiet  pos- 
session of  the  world  and  its  empire  at  the  coming  of 
Christ,  as  the  Canaanites  were  in  their  own  land  when 
Joshua  entered  it.  But  the  voice  of  the  gospel, 
preached  by  a  few  fishermen  from  among  the  Jews, 
a  people  held  in  the  utmost  contempt  by  the  whole 
heathen  world,  soon  cast  down  all  the  highest  fences 
of  Satan's  kingdom,  as  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down 
at  the  sound  of  rams  horns  blown  by  priests.  As  the 
Hebrews,  in  the  progress  of  their  victories,  were  ex- 
horted to  fear  nothing,  remembering  how  Pharaoh 
had  been  subdued  in  Egypt ;  so  ought  Christians  to 
remember  daily,  how  God  reduced  the  power  of  Sa- 
tan all  over  the  heathen  world,  till  his  temples  were 
destroyed,  and  the  churches  of  Christ  were  placed 
upon  their  ruins. 

But  then,  as  there  was  a  remnant  of  the  Canaanites, 
to  whom  the  people  were  frequently  joining  themselves 
in  marriage,  and  consequently  relapsing  into  idolatry, 
according  to  that  of  the  Psalmist — They  did  not  de- 
stroy the  nations  concerning  whom  the  Lord  com- 
manded them,  but  were  mingled  among  the  heathen 
and  learned  their  works,  and  they  served  their  idols, 
which  were  a  snare  unto  them :  so  the  works  of  foea- 


240  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  7. 

then  authors,  with  the  fables  of  their  false  gods,  the 
abominable  rites  of  their  religion,  and  the  obscenity 
and  immorality  of  their  practices,  are  in  like  manner 
remaining  among  Christians ;  and  it  has  been  the  cus- 
tom for  ages,  all  over  Europe,  to  communicate  the 
rudiments  of  languages  and  learning  to  young  minds 
from  heathen  books,  without  due  care  to  caution  them 
against  imbibing  heathen  principles  ;  by  which  thou- 
sands of  minds  are  corrupted,  and  through  early  pre- 
judice rendered  incapable  of  understanding  the  value 
of  truth,  and  the  abominable  nature  of  heathen  error. 
How  frequently  are  heathen  moralists  applied  to,  when 
the  finest  rules  of  human  prudence  for  the  conduct  of 
life  are  to  be  found  in  the  scripture.     But  to  go  to 
the  heathens  for  divinity,  as  some  authors  do,  is  in- 
tolerable.    They  blow  out  the  candle  of  revelation, 
and  then  go  raking  into  the  embers  of  paganism  to 
light  it  again.     Many  good  and  learned  men,  of  the 
first  ability  and  taste,  have  observed  and  lamented  the 
bondage  we  are  under  to  heathen  modes  of  education; 
but  custom  is  a  tyrant  which  hears  no  reason.    How- 
ever, there  can  be  no  harm,  and  I  hope  there  will  be 
no  offence,  in  praying  that   God  will  enable  us  to 
correct  all  our  errors  from  the  history  of  past  mis- 
carriages.    This  is  the  great  use  we  are  to  make  of 
our  present  subject.     The  dangers  to  the  souls  of 
men  are  the  same  in  all  ages  ;  and  their  errors  are  the 
same  for  sense,  however  they  may  differ  in  form  ;  so 
that  we  cannot  be  surprised  and   ensnared  by  any 
temptation  that  co  nes  upon  the  church,  if  we  look  t© 
the  things  that  arc  past. 


Lect.  8}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  14J 


LECTURE  VIII. 

ON  THE  PERSONAL  FIGURES,  OR  TYPES,  OF  THE  SCRIP- 
TURES ;  PARTICULARLY  THOSE  OF  MOSES  AND  JOSEPH, 
PROPOSED  BY  ST.  STEPHEN,  IN  HIS  APOLOGY  TO  THE 
JEWS. 

THE  Scripture  would  have  supplied  us  with 
much  more  matter,  of  the  same  kind  with  that  in  the 
two  preceding  Lectures.  I  might  have  set  before  you 
the  histories  of  Gideon's  victory,  and  the  fall  of  Sisera; 
which  were  signs  of  the  spiritual  victories  of  the  church 
over  the  enemies  of  her  salvation.*  I  might  have 
considered  the  rejection  of  the  Jews,  as  it  was  pre-"" 
figured  in  the  histories  of  Cain  and  Abel,  of  Jacob  and 
Esau,  of  Isaac  and  Ishmael,  of  Ephraim  and  Manas- 
ses :  to  which  I  might  have  added  a  view  of  their  pre- 
sent state,  as  signified  by  the  fall  of  the  proud  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, and  his  temporary  banishment  amongst 
the  beasts  in  a  state  of  insanity,  till  the  times  of  judg- 
ment passed  over  him.  The  grace  of  God  to  the 
heathen  world,  in  admitting  them  to  the  salvation  of 
the  gospel,  might  have  been  exemplified  by  the  heal- 
ing of  Naaman  the  Syrian,  and  the  visitation  of  the 


*  See  Isaiah  ix.  4.  Psalm  Ixxxiii.  9. 


142  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  8. 

widow  of  Sarepta:  which  two  cases  our  Saviour- 
pointed  out  to  the  Jews  at  Nazareth ;  but  they  would 
not  bear  the  most  distant  hint  of  the  reception  of  the 
Gentiles ;  and  were  so  filled  with  wrath,  that  they 
would  have  thrown  him  down  headlong  from  the  brow 
of  an  hill,  (after  the  Roman  fashion,)  as  an  enemy  to 
his  country ;  for  so  were  traitors  punished  at  Rome, 
by  being  thrown  from  the  top  of  the  Tarpeian  Rock. 

Many  figures  are  to  be  found  in  the  occurrences 
and  circumstantials  of  the  history  of  the  gospel  by 
those  who  read  it  with  such  an  intention.  In  short, 
the  history  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  hath  a 
secondary  or  prophetical  sense  in  many  instances;  its 
great  events  were  signs  and  figures  of  things  ?iot  seen 
as  yet ;  and  many  of  them  are  in  force  as  such  to  this 
hour.  Great  things  are  still  to  be  expected,  of  which 
we  can  form  no  conception,  but  as  they  are  set  before 
us  in  the  figures  of  the  sacred  history.  God  shall 
descend,  and  the  earth  shall  be  on  fire,  and  the  trum- 
pet shall  sound,  and  the  tribes  of  mankind  shall  be  as- 
sembled, as  formerly  at  Horeb.  Distress  shall  come 
upon  a  wicked  world,  when  its  iniquity  shall  be  full, 
as  once  upon  Babylon,  and  afterwards  upon  the  apos- 
tate Jerusalem.  The  armies  of  the  Lord  shall  encom- 
pass it ;  and  it  shall  be  overthrown,  with  them  that 
dwell  therein.  For  this  reason,  the  visitation  of  Jeru- 
salem was  foretold  in  such  terms  by  our  Blessed  Lord, 
that  in  many  of  his  expressions,  it  is  hard  to  distin- 
guish, whether  that,  or  the  end  of  the  world,  is  to  be 
understood. 

These  things,  however,  I  must  at  present  leave  to 


Lect.8.}  of  the  holy  script  ores.  143 

your  meditation,  and  go  forward  to  the  figurative  his- 
tories of individual  persons;  such  as  were  the  prophets 
kings,  heroes,  and  saints  of  the  Old  Testament :  who 
by  their  actions,  as  well  as  their  words,  foreshewed  the 
coming  of  that  Saviour,  in  whom,  the  saints  made  per- 
fect through  sufferings,  the  conqueror,  the  prince,  the 
priest,  and  the  prophet,  were  to  be  united.  As  the 
things  which  befel  the  church  at  large,  happened  to 
them  for  ensamples  to  the  whole  congregation  of  Chris- 
tian people  ;  so  the  things  which  befel  the  prophet  of 
old  happened  for  ensamples  of  the  Saviour  himself;  that 
his  character  and  history,  as  the  true  Son  of  God  who 
should  come  into  the  world,  might  be  infallibly  ascer- 
tained and  demonstrated,  by  a  comparison  with  the 
various  characters  of  those  who  had  been  most  eminent 
in  the  church  of  old.  Some  of  these  characters  were 
extremely  different  from  others,  and  the  events  of  their 
history  of  the  Messiah  was  to  comprehend  them  all. 
For  this  end  their  lives  were  purposely  conformed  by 
the  divine  Providence  to  the  image  of  him  that  was  to 
come  after. 

This  consideration,  when  we  see  the  force  of  it,  will 
reconcile  us  to  some  strange  things,  which  might  ap- 
pear very  unreasonable,  if  they  were  to  be  considered 
only  in  themselves,  not  under  the  relation  which  they 
bear,  and  were  intended  to  bear  to  higher  and  greater 
things.  How  monstrous  would  it  seem  in  any  other 
history,  that  a  man  should  be  buried  in  the  body  of  a 
fish,  and  cast  up  alive  again  after  three  days  upon  the 
dry  land !  But  if  this  strange  thing  happened,  that  it 
might  afterwards  be  compared  with  the  return  of  Jesus 


144  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  8- 

Christ  from  the  dead,  for  the  salvation  of  all  mankind; 
then  the  preservation  of  Jonah  becomes  fit  and  reasona- 
ble ;  it  being  of  infinite  consequence  to  the  world,  that 
the  fact  of  Christ's  resurrection,  when  it  should  hap- 
pen, should  be  admitted  and  believed  ;  and  so  the  case 
was  worthy  of  the  Divine  interposition.  Jonah  was 
not  preserved  by  a  miracle  for  his  own  sake,  but  for  a 
sign,  to  instruct  the  people  of  God  in  the  truth  of  their 
salvation,  and  the  peculiar  means  or  mode  of  it.  Two 
strange  events  of  the  same  kind  are  more  credible  than 
one ;  because  the  object  is  removed  which  might  arise 
from  the  singularity  of  the  case.  The  resurrection  of 
Christ  is  a  true  fact,  and  a  credible  fact :  for  why  ?  it 
was  foreshewn  by  the  preservation  of  Jonah  ;  another 
fact  of  the  same  kind.  And  again,  to  take  the  matter 
the  other  way  ;  the  preservation  of  Jonah  was  a  mir- 
acle, worthy  of  God,  from  its  relation  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ ;  the  most  important  fact  in  itself,  and 
the  most  necessary  to  be  believed,  of  all  that  should 
ever  happen  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  the  end 
of  it.  Jonah's  deliverance  was  intended  to  do  what  the 
apostles  were  sent  over  the  world  to  do,  viz.  to  wit- 
ness the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  Our  Saviour 
himself  hath  directed  us  to  make  this  use  of  Jonah's 
history.  The  Jews  required  of  him  some  miraculous 
fact  as  a  testimony  that  he  was  the  true  Messiah  :  and 
he  gave  them  this  :  As  Jonah  was  three  days  and 
three  nights  in  the  whale's  belly  ;  so  shall  the  son  of 
man  be  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of 
the  earth.*.    Here  the  person  of  Jonah  is  a  sign  of 

*  Matthew  xii.  59,  40. 


Lect.  8.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  J4 5 

the  person  of  Christ,  and  the  belly  of  a  devouring  fish 
a  sign  of  the  power  of  the  grave,  by  which  he  should 
be  detained  for  the  same  time  as  Jonah  was. 

The  lives  of  the  other  prophets  had  a  like  relation 
to  the  times  and  transactions  of  the  gospel.  From  a 
passage  which  is  taken  out  of  the  41st  Psalm,  and 
applied  to  the  treason  of  Judas,  it  appears  that  some, 
of  the  most  remarkable  circumstances  in  the  life  of 
the  prophet  David  were  prefigurative  of  other  parallel 
circumstances  in  the  life  of  Christ.  It  is  observed 
by  our  Saviour  himself,  that  in  the  treason  of  Judas, 
that  scripture  was  fulfilled,  which  saith,  he  that  eat- 
eth  bread  with  me  hath  lift  up  his  heel  against  me. 
The  familiar  friend  of  David,  whose  treachery  is  here 
complained  of,  was  Ahithophel,  to  whom  these  words, 
in  the  letter  of  them,  must  be  supposed  to  have  refer- 
red :  but  if  they  were  fulfilled,  as  our  Saviour  saith, 
in  Judas,  then  they  were  prophetical ;  and  the  suffer- 
ing of  David  from  a  traitor,  foreshewed  that  the  true 
David  should  be  a  sufferer  from  a  person  of  the  same 
character.  Ahithophel,  a  man  entrusted  with  the  chief 
management  of  David's  affairs,  took  part  against  his 
master,  and  betrayed  him  to  those  who  sought  his 
life  :  and  Judas,  in  like  manner,  being  entrusted  by 
his  master,  betrayed  him  to  the  chief  priests,  that  he 
might  be  put  to  death.  But  now  let  us  mark  the  se- 
quel ;  for  both  these  traitors  came  to  the  same  tragical 
end :  they  both  hanged  themselves,  when  they  failed 
of  the  success  which  their  ambition  aimed  at :  and  if 
Judas  had  studied  the  scripture  as  much  as  he  studied 
the  world,  he  might  have  foreseen  his  own  fate  in  that 

19 


146  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         {Lect  8 

of  his  brother  traitor  Ahithophel.  Unless  the  charac- 
ter of  David,  as  a  prophet,  had  a  relation  to  the  person 
of  Christ,  how  can  we  account  for  it,  that  the  name 
of  David  is  applied  to  him  by  Ezekiel*  four  hundred 
years  after  the  natural  David  was  dead?  On  what  other 
principle  could  David  speak  such  words  in  the  16th 
Psalm,  as  could  be  verified  only  in  the  person  of  Christ? 
Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell,  neither  wilt  thou 
suffer  thine  holy  one  to  see  corruption.  Concerning 
this  passage,  St.  Peter  argued  with  the  Jews,  that  it 
could  not  be  meant  of  David  himself,  the  memorials 
of  whose  death  and  burial  were  still  remaining  among 
them.  That  the  Providence  of  God  did  exhibit  in  the 
person  of  David  a  character  prefigurative  of  the  Mes- 
siah, can  never  be  doubted,  if  we  compare  their  cha- 
racters together:  both  were  shepherds,  prophets,  kings 
and  conquerers ;  both  were  despised  and  set  at  naught 
by  their  brethren  ;  oppressed  and  persecuted  by  the 
powerful  ,  ungratefully  reviled,  mocked  at,  and  be- 
trayed, by  rebels  and  traitors;  and  both  were  raised 
to  the  throne  of  Israel  (called  the  throne  of  David)  in 
opposition  to  all  the  power  and  malice  of  their  enemies. 
From  this  similitude  of  character,  all  men  might  infal- 
libly distinguish  the  true  son  of  David,  when  he  should 
have  fulfilled  his  course,  and  attained  the  kingdom  on 
the  holy  hill  of  Sion. 

In  the  prophet  Elijah,  we  have  a  character  prefigu- 
rative of  the  person  and  office  of  John  the  Baptist : 
whence  it  is  said  in  the  4th  chap,  of  Malachi,   Behold 

*  Ezekiel  xxxvii.  25. 


Lkct.&J  of  the  holy  scriptures.  147 

/  -will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet  before  the  coining 
of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord,  and  he  shall 
turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children,  &c. — 
The  scribes  and  pharisees,  who  took  this  passage  lite- 
rally, expected  that  the  prophet  Elijah  (whom  the  New 
Testament  calls  Elias)  would  appear  in  person  before 
the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  and  therefore,  at  the  cru- 
cifixion, they  observed  of  Jesus  with  a  sneer,  that 
though  he  had  not  as  yet  received  any  testimony  from 
Elias,  he  might  do  so,  even  upon  the  cross,  if  they 
did  but  give  him  a  little  more  time — Let  be,  said 
they,  let  us  see  whether  Elias  will  come  to  save  him.* 
By  those  whose  minds  were  enlightened,  it  had  been 
understood,  not  that  the  person  of  Elijah  should  come 
again,  but  the  character ;  that  the  spirit  and  power\ 
of  that  prophet  should  be  revived  and  fulfilled  in  the 
character  of  the  Baptist.  Let  us  therefore  compare 
them  together.  As  to  their  personal  appearance,  we 
read  that  Elijah  the  Tishbite  was  an  hairy  man,%  (pro- 
bably with  a  rough  garment)  and  girt  with  a  girdle  of 
leather  about  his  loins.  And  do  we  not  read  of  John 
the  Baptist  his  counterpart,  that  he  also  had  his  raiment 
ofcameVs  hair,  and  a  leathern  girdle  about  his  loins  ? 
With  respect  to  their  manner  of  life,  Elijah  frequented 
the  wilderness,  and  was  fed  in  solitude  :  and  John  the 
Baptist  was  in  the  deserts,  and  came  preaching  in  the 
wilderness  ofJndea,  and  his  meat  was  locusts  and  wild 
honey,  proper  to  a  man  of  a  contemplative  and  holy 
life.     In  their  office  and  ministry,  which  give  import- 

*  Matthew  xxvii.  49.        f  Luke  i.  17.      \  1  Kings  xix.  4. 


148  °N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         {Lect.  8j 

ance  to  the  other  marks  of  their  character,  both  of  them 
were  raised  up  for  the  great  work  of  reforming  a  de- 
generate people,  and  turning  to  God  those  who  had 
departed  from  him.  Elijah  brought  over  to  Jehovah 
thousands  of  the  people  who  had  revolted  to  Baal :  and 
John  the  Baptist  warned  a  generation  of  vipers  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come  ;  and  prevailed  upon  them  to 
receive  that  baptism  of  repentance  which  was  prepa- 
ratory to  the  baptism  of  the  gospel.  Elijah  bore  his 
testimony  without  fear  against  two  kings,  Ahab  and 
Ahaziah  ;  one  of  whom  was  urged  on  by  that  wicked 
woman  Jezebel,  who  had  determined  to  put  that  pro- 
phet to  death.  So  did  John  boldly  rebuke  Herod,  a 
king  under  the  influence  of  another  wicked  woman, 
who  sought  his  life  and  succeeded.  Thus  we  under- 
stand how  far  these  two  were  alike  in  their  persons, 
their  manners,  and  their  ministry;  and  with  what  pro- 
priety it  was  said  of  John  by  the  angel,  that  he  should 
go  before  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  in  the  spirit  and 
power  of  Elias.  Thrre  is  something  very  remarkable 
to  our  present  purpose  in  the  testimony  our  Saviour 
gave  to  John,  as  being  the  person  in  whom  the  cha- 
racter of  Elias  was  fulfilled  :  1  say  unto  you,  that  Elias 
is  indeed  come,  and  they  have  done  unto  him  whatever 
they  listed,  as  it  is  written  of  him.*  These  last  words 
plainly  refer  us  to  what  was  written  of  Elijah ;  from 
whose  history  it  might  be  foreseen,  what  would  be- 
come of  John  the  Baptist;  namely,  that  a  wicked  and 
powerful  woman  should  thirst  after  his  blood,  and  that 

*Markix.  13. 


Lect.  8.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  249 

a  king  should  send  his  officers  to  take  away  his  life. 
This  was  what  they  listed  to  do  against  Elijah :  there- 
fore when  Herodias  persecuted  the  Baptist,  and  Herod 
sent  an  executioner  to  behead  him,  they  acted  accord- 
ing as  it  was  written.  Elijah  was  miraculously  pre- 
served to  be  carried  up  alive  into  heaven  :  whereto 
John  followed  him,  in  a  way  more  agreeable  to  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel,  the  way  of  martyrdom.* 

We  find  another  figurative  character  in  the  person 
of  Isaac  the  son  of  Abraham,  whose  sacrifices  and  de- 
liverance were  descriptive  of  Christ's  death  and  resur- 
rection. Abraham,  says  the  apostle,  offered  up  Isaac 
accounting  that  God  was  able  to  raise  him  up  even 
from  the  dead  ;  from  whence  also  he  received  him  in  a 
figure.  f  The  history  of  this  transaction  informs  us, 
that  on  the  third  day  Abraham  lilt  up  his  eyes,  and  saw 
the  place  where  his  son  was  to  be  offered  up.  He 
laid  upon  Isaac  the  wood  on  which  he  was  to  suffer,  as 
Christ  carried  his  own  cross :  and  when  the  knife  was 
lifted  up  to  slay  him,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  interposed, 
and  Isaac  was  received,  as  it  were,  from  the  dead;  having 
been  actually  devoted  to  death  in  the  mind  of  his  fa- 
ther for  three  days.  In  his  substitute  the  ram,  a  real 
sacrifice  was  offered,  as  Abraham  had  expected,  and 
Isaac  was  still  alive  ;  so  that  in  the  one  we  have  a  fig- 
ure of  the  death  of  Christ,  in  the  other  of  his  resurrec- 

*  If  the  reader  should  be  pleased  with  what  is  here  said,  he 
will  be  much  more  pleased  with  Considerations  on  the  Life  and 
Death  of  John  the  Baptist,  by  Dr.  Home,  the  present  Dean  of 
Canterbury. 

f  Hebrews  xi.  19. 


150  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  8. 

tion.  And  to  render  this  transaction  more  descriptive, 
the  providence  of  God  directed  Abraham  on  this  occa- 
sion to  the  mountains  o/Moriah,  where  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem  was  afterwards  built ;  in  which  the  lamb 
Christ  Jesus  was  daily  offered  up  for  many  hundred 
years  in  the  sacrifices  of  the  law ;  and  where  Christ 
himself  at  length  suffered ;  accomplishing  all  the  offer- 
ings of  the  law,  and  fulfilling  the  sacrifice  and  figura- 
tive resurrection  of  Isaac.  The  11th  chapter*  of  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  which  the  history  of  Isaac 
is  treated  of,  would  afford  us  many  other  examples  of 
illustrious  persons  whose  actions  and  sufferings  were 
conformed  to  the  character  of  that  Saviour  in  whom 
they  believed.  But  of  all  the  personal  histories  which 
have  a  prophetic  relation  to  the  sufferings  and  exalta- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ,  none  are  so  full  to  the  purpose  as 
those  two  characters  of  Joseph  and  Moses,  which  were 
selected  by  the  blessed  martyr  St.  Stephen  in  his  apo- 
logy against  the  Jews  :  which  apology,  when  rightly 
considered,  opens  a  wonderful  scene,  and  carries  us 
very  far  into  the  prophetical  imagery  of  the  scripture. 
St.  Stephen,  in  his  disputes  with  the  adversaries  of 
the  gospel,  had  argued  in  such  a  manner  from  the 
figures  of  the  Old  Testament,  to  vindicate  the  suffer- 
ings and  demonstrate  the  verity  of  the  mission  of  Jesus 

*  A  learned  Dignitary  of  this  Church,  who  is  mighty  in  the 
scriptures,  hath  composed  a  series  of  discourses,  equally  excel- 
lent and  edifying,  upon  the  several  characters  of  the  faithful  in 
this  chapter;  which  I  hope  he  will  not  forget  to  publish  in  due 
time. 


Lect.  8. \  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  J5]_ 

Christ,  that  none  could  resist  the  wisdom  and  the  spirit 
with  which  he  spake.*  And  at  length,  in  his  speech 
before  the  high  priest  at  his  trial,  we  have  the  method 
and  substance  of  his  reasoning  :  of  which  I  am  now 
to  make  my  use,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  present 
part  of  our  subject.  The  design  of  this  discourse, 
and  the  drift  of  the  argument  may  be  collected  by 
comparing  some  passages  of  it  together. 

Having  reminded  the  Jews,  in  the  first  place, f  that 
the  promises  of  God,  the  hopes  of  the  fathers,  did  not 
rest  in  a  temporal  or  worldly  inheritance,  as  they  had 
falsely  flattered  themselves  ;  he  lays  down  the  history  of 
Joseph  and  Moses,  with  the  persecutions  they  under- 
went from  their  people,  and  the  interposition  of  God  for 
their  exaltation  :  and  then,  to  shew  his  meaning  in  all 
this,  he  makes  the  following  application,  for  the  convic- 
tion of  his  hearers,  who  had  been  the  persecutors  of 
Jesus  Christ.  "Ye  stifFnecked,  and  uncircumcised  in 
"  heart  and  ears  (who  from  your  disobedience  are  not 
"  able  to  hear  and  understand  what  the  law  has  declared 
"  to  you,)  ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost:  as 
"  your  fathers  did,  so  do  ye.  Which  of  the  prophets 
"  have  not  your  fathers  persecuted  ?  And  they  have 
"  slain  them  which  shewed  before  of  the  coming  of  the 
"  Just  One,  of  whom  ye  have  been  now  the  betrayers 
"and  murderers."!  This  application  shews  us  with 
what  design  he  had  reminded  them  of  the  reception 


*  See  Acts,  chap.  vi.  7. 

f  See  the  beginning  of  the  7th  chapter  of  the  Acts. 

tActsvii.  51. 


152  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {JLect.  g. 

which  Joseph  and  Moses,  those  two  eminent  charac- 
ters of  the  law,  had  met  with.  He  meant  to  shew 
them,  that  as  these  favourites  of  heaven,  whom  God 
had  commissioned  to  be  the  Saviours  of  their  people, 
were  opposed  and  persecuted ;  so  had  they  now,  in 
like  form  and  manner,  opposed  and  persecuted  the 
Just  One,  Jesus  Christ ;  and  in  so  doing  had  fulfilled 
the  scripture,  and  done  all  that  was  wanting  to  confirm 
the  truth  of  his  divine  mission ;  inasmuch  as  none 
could  be  the  true  Saviour,  according  to  the  scriptures, 
but  a  person  rejected  by  them,  as  these  holy  prophets 
had  been  rejected  by  their  forefathers. 

Such  is  the  purport  of  St.  Stephen's  apology ;  and, 
with  this  key,  we  are  prepared  to  examine  the  particu- 
lars. He  enters  on  the  character  of  Joseph  with  these 
remarkable  words :  The  patriarchs  moved  with  envy 
sold  Joseph  into  Egypt.  Who  were  the  enemies  of 
Joseph?  The  patriarchs ;  his  own  brethren ,  all  against 
him  to  a  man.  Having  first  plotted  together  to  take 
away  his  life,  they  sold  him,  and  then  shewed  the 
marks  of  his  blood,  that  his  father  might  be  assured 
he  was  dead.  The  strangers,  to  whom  he  was  given 
up,  carried  him  far  from  his  family,  and  placed  him 
among  heathens  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  All  these  par- 
ticulars  were  exactly  verified  in  the  person  of  Christ : 
his  brethren,  moved  with  envy,  sold  him  for  money, 
and  delivered  him  to  the  Gentiles.  The  brother  who 
advised*  the  selling  of  Joseph,  that  some  profit  might 
be  made  of  him,  was  Judah,  who  answers  even  in  his 

*  See  Gen.  xxxvii.  26. 


Lect.  8.f  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  I53 

name  to  the  traitor  that  sold  Jesus  Christ :  but  the  guilt 
which  attends  his  name  extends  to  the  whole  nation  of 
the  Jews,  of  whom  Judah  among  the  twelve  patriarchs, 
and  Judas  among  the  twelve  apostles,  were  the  repre- 
sentatives. Envy  was  the  motive  on  which  the  pa- 
triarchs sold  Joseph;  and  Christ  was  accused  and 
condemned  on  the  same  principle,  according  to  the 
opinion  of  his  judge:  of  whom  two  of  the  evangelists 
relate,  that  Pilate  knew  the  chief  priests  had  delivered 
him  for  envy.  When  Joseph  declared  his  dreams 
which  signified  his  future  superiority  over  his  whole 
family ;  his  brethren  hated  him  yet  the  more  for  his 
dreams  and  for  his  words ;  and  persuaded  themselves 
they  should  prevent  his  advancement  by  selling  him 
for  a 'slave:  but  this  was  the  circumstance  without 
which  his  advancement  could  not  have  happened :  he 
had  never  been  a  ruler  and  a  prince,  if  he  had  not  been 
sent  into  Egypt  as  a  slave,  and  to  prison  as  a  malefac- 
tor. So  when  Christ  asserted  his  own  dignity,  his 
brethren  took  up  stones  to  cast  at  him  for  making 
himself  the  Son  of  God:  and  when  he  told  them  they 
should  see  him  coming  in  the  clouds,  and  sitting  at 
the  right  hand  of  power,  they  pronounced  him  to  be 
guilty  of  blasphemy,  and  inflicted  those  sufferings 
which  were  necessary  to  his  exaltation.  They  sold 
him  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  to  be  treated  as  a 
slave,  scourged  and  crucified.  With  the  kingdoms 
of  the  Gentiles,  to  whom  his  brethren  delivered  him, 
he  remains  to  this  day  ;  and  thither  they  must  come 
after  him,  if  they  are  to  meet  with  lum,  as  Joseph  was 
followed  by  his  family  into  Egypt. 

20 


154  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  8 

Much  more  might  be  said  to  shew  how  exact  the 
parallel  is  between  the  history  of  Joseph  and  the  histo- 
ry of  Christ,  if  we  were  to  pursue  it.  We  see  Joseph 
in  company  with  twe  malefactors  in  the  prison,  and 
promising  life  to  one  of  them :  we  see  him  endued 
with  such  wisdom,  that  even  Heathens  were  obliged 
to  own  that  this  Hebrew  spoke  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ; 
and  they  were  content  that  he  should  receive  the  pow- 
er and  glory  of  dominion  amongst  them  j  while  his 
brethren  had  rejected  him  as  an  insignificant  dreamer. 
One  circumstance,  however,  I  must  not  pass  over, 
which  is  particularly  noted  by  St.  Stephen ;  that  at 
the  second  time  Joseph  was  made  known  to  his  breth- 
ren. At  the  first  meeting  they  knew  him  not :  but 
after  they  had  accused  themselves  for  being  guilty  of 
his  death,  and  had  imputed  their  troubles  to  its  proper 
cause,  then  their  brother  was  made  known  unto  them. 
Thus  we  trust  it  will  be  at  last  betwixt  Christ  and  the 
Jews.  The  time  will  come,  when  they  shall  see  the 
true  reason  why  they  have  been  wandering  backwards 
and  forwards,  and  seeking  their  bread  with  anxiety 
and  suspicion,  in  a  strange  land  ;  and  shall  say  with 
the  brethren  of  Joseph,  We  are  verily  guilty  concer- 
ning our  brother,  in  that  we  saxv  the  anguish  of  his 
soul  when  he  besought  us,  and  we  would  not  hear  ; 
therefore  is  this  distress  come  upon  us.*  God  who 
found  out  the  iniquity  of  Joseph's  brethren,  and  at 
last  opened  their  eyes  to  see  and  confess  it,  can  turn 
the  hearts  of  the  Jews,  how  hard  soever  they  may  be 

*  Genesis  xlii.  21. 


Lect.8.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  155 

at  present,  and  prepare  them  for  that  second  meeting 
when  their  Saviour  shall  be  known  to  them. 

Some  things  which  have  passed  before  us  in  the 
present  Lecture  would  suggest  man}-  profitable  reflec- 
tions, if  I  had  time  to  insist  upon  them. 

From  the  office  of  John  the  Baptist,  which  was  pre- 
paratory to  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  are  to  learn 
that  no  man  can  receive  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  unless 
he  is  prepared  by  a  baptism  of  repentance,  and  is  ready 
to  forsake  his  sins.  The  counsel  of  God  for  his  sal- 
vation can  take  no  effect,  till  his  former  evil  ways  are 
given  up.  With  an  attachment  to  his  old  sins  and  er- 
rors, he  can  neither  understand  nor  approve  any  thing 
the  gospel  offers  to  him :  but  will  either  hate  or  despise 
it,  and  tempt  others  to  do  the  same  :  as  the  scribes  did 
who  would  not  accept  of  John's  baptism.  Why  do 
not  all  men  receive  the  gospel,  but  because  some  have 
taken  part  with  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil ; 
and  determine  never  to  renounce  them  ?  To  all  such 
the  gospel  is  a  thing  of  no  value. 

From  the  case  of  Joseph,  and  our  blessed  Saviour, 
hated  and  persecuted  as  they  were  ;  we  should  learn 
to  suspect  all  those  whom  the  world  magnifies,  and 
not  trust  to  reports  and  appearances,  where  self-love 
and  temporal  interest  are  concerned  to  disguise  things. 
This  is  a  world  in  which  truth  is  neglected,  goodness 
evil  spoken  of,  and  innocence  run  down  and  persecu- 
ted. It  is  the  constant  practice  of  mankind  to  misre- 
present and  defame  those  whom  they  have  injured,  that 
their  own  injustice  may  not  appear.  When  virtue  is 
oppressed,  it  is  generally  silent ;  while  its  oppressors 


J[56  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  8 

never  fail  to  be  clamourous  in  their  own  vindication ; 
and  in  most  cases,  men  may  distinguish  where  the 
iault  lies,  by  the  noise  that  is  made  to  conceal  it.  When 
Christ  was  defamed  he  answered  not  again  ;  and  his 
disciples  also  suffered  in  patience ;  while  the  Jews  were 
running  here  and  there  all  over  the  world  to  tell  their 
story,  and  turn  the  hearts  of  men  against  the  gospel, 
that  they  might  be  prepared  to  disbelieve  and  reject  it, 
as  soon  as  it  should  come  to  their  ears. 

In  the  history  of  Joseph's  brethren,  you  see  them  in 
distress  under  their  wants ;  not  able  to  stay  at  home 
without  starving,  nor  daring  to  go  into  Egypt,  taking 
the  lord  of  the  country  for  their  enemy.  Every  mor- 
tal man  will  suffer  under  the  like  miserable  dilemma* 
who  cannot  find  his  happiness  in  the  world,  and  dare 
not  seek  it  where  only  it  is  to  be  found.  All  this  hap- 
pens because  he  does  not  know  Jesus  Christ ;  does 
not  know  that  he  is  the  brother  and  the  friend  of  sin- 
ners, ready  to  take  them  under  his  protection  and  sup- 
ply all  their  wants ;  but  supposes  religion  to  be  his 
enemy,  and  expects  to  be  roughly  handled.  The 
brethren  of  Joseph  did  not  know  him ;  and  were  dis- 
tressed with  fear  and  anxiety  ;  the  Jews  did  not  know 
Christ,  and  are  to  this  day  wandering,  restless  and 
hopeless,  about  the  world ;  and  every  man  will  find 
himself  in  the  like  condition,  till  he  discovers  that  the 
religion  he  is  afraid  of  is  his  best  friend,  and  that  God 
has  sent  a  Saviour  before  us  to  preserve  life,  not  to  de- 
stroy it. 


L»ct.  9. }  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  157 


LECTURE  IX. 


ON   THE    PERSONAL  FIGURES,    OR  TYPES,  OP  THE  SCRIP- 
TURES. 

(A  CONTINUATION  OF  THE  FORMER.) 


OF  all  the  personal  figures  of  the  Old  Testament, 
none  are  so  proper  to  answer  the  purpose  of  these  Lec- 
tures, as  the  two  characters  which  St.  Stephen  propos- 
ed to  the  Jews,  as  figures  and  forerunners  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  whom  they  would  not  have  crucified  if  they  had 
known  him,  and  they  could  not  have  failed  to  know 
him,  if  they  had  looked  to  those  saints  of  old  who  had 
foreshewn  him  in  their  lives  and  actions,  more  plainly 
than  words  could  have  described  him. 

Notice  had  been  given  of  this  by  Moses  himself ;  so 
that  they  ought  not  to  have  been  ignorant.  A  prophet, 
said  he,  shall  the  Lord  your  God  raise  up  unto  you  of 
your  brethren  like  unto  me :  which  words  are  cited  by 
St.  Stephen,  and  marked  out  for  special  observation : 
This  is  that  Moses,  who  said  unto  the  children  of  Is- 
rael, a  prophet  shall  the  Lord  your  God  raise  up  unto 
you,  like  unto  me  :  and  from  the  use  he  has  made  of  the 
history  of  Moses,  in  the  7th  chapter  of  the  Acts,  it  ap- 
pears that  this  likeness  extends  to  his  whole  character, 


258  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  9. 

from  his  birth  to  his  death :  as  we  shall  see  when  we 
come  to  examine  the  particulars.  We  are  likewise 
taught  by  St.  Paul,  that  Moses,  as  a  minister  and  me- 
diator, was  faithful  in  his  office,  for  a  testimony  of 
those  things  which  w^re  to  be  spoken  after :  when  the 
Son  himself,  the  great  and  final  Mediator,  should  take 
the  direction  of  the  house  of  God,  and  accomplish  the 
ministry,  which  is  now  -witnessed  by  the  ministry  of 
Moses. 

The  circumstances  fittest  for  our  purpose  in  the  his- 
tory of  Moses,  and  most  remarkable  in  themselves,  are 
already  selected  by  St.  Stephen:  to  these,  I  shall  confine 
myself;  and  treat  of  them  in  the  order  in  which  he  has 
laid  them  down.  But  that  we  may  first  have  a  distinct 
view  of  the  particulars,  which  will  come  under  consid- 
eration, it  may  be  proper  to  observe,  that  the  history  of 
Moses,  as  here  to  be  applied,  comprehends,  1.  The 
circumstances  of  his  birth.  2.  His  qualifications  and 
endowments  as  the  minister  of  God.  3.  His  office  as 
the  deliverer  of  his  people.  4-  The  reception  he  met 
with  from  the  people  he  came  to  deliver. 

Our  blessed  Saviour's  birth  in  Judea  was  rendered 
very  remarkable  by  the  circumstances  that  attended  it, 
and  the  character  of  the  time  in  which  it  happened. 

When  the  promises  of  God  were  about  to  be  fulfill- 
ed by  the  redemption  of  mankind,  and  the  time  fore- 
told by  the  prophets  was  drawing  near;  the  nation  of 
the  Jews  was  fallen  under  bondage  to  the  Roman 
power,  and  were  subject  to  Herod,  a  strange  king,  jea- 
lous of  the  people  he  was  set  over,  and  apprehensive  of 
a  deliverer  to  be  born  among  themselves.     When  the 


Lect.9.J  OF  THK  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^59 

report  of  Christ's  birth  was  brought  by  the  wise  men, 
Herod  determined  to  cut  him  off;  and  with  this  view 
cruelly  slaughtered  all  the  infants  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Bethlehem.  With  all  this  the  birth  of  Moses  agrees 
in  every  circumstance. 

For,  1.   1  he  time  of  the  promise  drew  nigh  which 
God  had  sworn  to  Abraham.     It  had  been  foretold, 
that  the  seed  oi  Abraham  should  continue  four  hun- 
dred years  in  Egypt,  and  after  that  come  out  with 
great  substance. — When  this  time  of  redemption  was 
approaching,  the  Hebrews  were  fallen  into  great  afflic- 
tion under  a  new  king  who  knew  not  Joseph  ;  who  be- 
ing probably  an  alien,  had  no  respect  to  the  merits  or 
memory  of  him  who  had  been  a  saviour  to  the  land  of 
Egypt ;  looking  with  a  jealous  eye  upon  all  his  peo- 
ple, as  enemies,  and   treating   them   as  captives  and 
slaves.      He  had  a  suspicion  that  they  would  become 
more  powerful,  and  get  them  up  out  of  his  land.     To 
prevent  which,  he  proceeded  with  subtilty,  (as  Herod 
did  afterwards)  and  resolved  upon  a  massacre  of  all  the 
male  infants  of  the  Hebrews.     He  first  commanded 
the  midwives  to  kill  them  ;  but  failing  in  this,  Pha- 
raoh charged  all  his  people,  saying,  Every  son  that  is 
born  ye  shall  cast  into  the  river.     At  this  time  Moses 
was  born  :  and  a  remarkable  time  it  was  :  a  strange  new 
king  kept  the  people  of  God  in  subjection,  and  mur- 
dered their  infants,  to  prevent  their  deliverance.     But 
Moses  and  Christ,  under  these  wonderful  circumstan- 
ces, were  both  miraculously  preserved,  to  accomplish 
the  redemption  for  which  they  were  raised  up :  and 
they  were  both  preserved  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  Moses 


160  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  9. 

was  taken  up  by  Pharaoh's  daughter,  ard  escaped 
from  the  wrath  of  a  cruel  king  :  and  the  child  Jesus 
was  carried  into  Egypt  by  his  parents  to  escape  the 
wrath  of  Herod. 

The  nativity  of  Christ  was  dignified  by  the  appear- 
ance of  a  star,  and  celebrated  by  an  host  of  angels  ; 
though  its  earthly  appearance  was  in  poverty  and  ob- 
scurity. And  some  unusual  circumstances  marked 
the  birth  of  Moses,  though  the  particulars  are  not 
related.  He  was  born  of  a  poor,  oppressed  people,  the 
child  of  a  slave,  and  doomed  to  death  by  the  circum- 
stances of  his  birth.  But  his  parents  were  aware  of 
some  distinction,  which  shewed  that  he  was  raised  up 
for  some  great  purpose.  St.  Paul  says,  they  saw  he 
was  a  proper  child  ;  St.  Stephen,  that  he  was  excee- 
ding fair-,  the  original  is,  fair  to  God;  from  all  which 
it  is  most  reasonable  to  understand,  that  some  marks 
of  divine  favour  and  distinction  were  visible  about  him 
at  his  birth.  His  qualifications  and  endowments  come 
next  under  consideration. 

He  is  said  to  have  been  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians,*  and  to  have  been  mighty  in  words 
and  in  deeds.  This  character  is  given  of  Christ  as  a 
prophet,  nearly  in  the  same  terms.  The  two  disciples 
who  walked  with  him  to  Emmaus  described  him  as  a 
prophet  mighty  in  words  before  God  and  all  the  people. 
When  Moses  was  grown  up,  he  went  forth  to  vindicate 
the  right  of  his  people,  and  gave  them  a  sign  of  his 
power  by  slaying  an  Egyptian  who  did  them  wrong ; 

*  Compare  Luke  ii.  52. 


Lect.  9. \  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  jg^ 

casting  out  one  of  their  strong  men,  to  shew  that  a 
stronger  than  he  was  come  upon  him,  and  that  God 
had  visited  his  people.  So  did  Christ  give  a  sign  of 
his  power  as  a  Redeemer,  by  rescuing  the  souls  and 
bodies  of  men  from  the  bondage  of  Satan ;  casting  out 
devils  by  the  finger  of  God,  to  shew  that  the  kingdom 
of  God  was  come  upon  them. 

The  Egyptian  wisdom,  according  to  the  account  we 
have  of  it,  delivered  all  things  under  signs  and  figures; 
speaking  to  the  mind  rather  by  visible  objects  than  by 
words,  and  conveying  instruction  under  a  hidden  form 
which  only  the  wise  could  understand.  I  do  not  stay 
to  enquire  into  the  reason  of  this  ;  I  only  speak  of  the 
fact,  which  is  well  known  to  scholars.  Moses  must 
therefore  have  been  accustomed  early  to  this  mode  of 
delivering  science  by  symbols  and  hieroglyphics :  and 
we  have  seen  that  his  whole  law  is  according  to  the 
same  method,  not  speaking  literally  of  any  spiritual 
things,  not  even  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  (whence 
some  have  ignorantly  supposed  that  it  was  not  a  doc- 
trine of  his  law,)  but  delivering  all  things  under  signs, 
emblems  and  descriptive  ceremonies  ;  which  they  who 
do  not  study,  are  miserably  in  the  dark  as  to  the  wis- 
dom of  the  Mosaic  dispensation. 

The  wisdom  of  our  blessed  Saviour  was  always  con- 
veyed under  the  same  form ;  all  his  instructions  were 
given  in  parables,  where  visible  objects  signifying  intel- 
lectual things  ;  and  without  a  parable  spake  he  not  unto 
them :  which  form  of  speech,  they  who  do  not  study 
and  delight  in,  as  the  medium  of  instruction  which  the 
wisdom  of  God  hath  preferred  from  the  beginning  of 

21 


162  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.9. 

the  world,  will  never  see  far  either  into  the  Old  or  New 
Testament. 

The  mission  of  Moses  bears  witness,  in  the  form 
of  it,  to  the  mission  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  gives  us  the 
most  worthy  idea  that  can  be  conceived  both  of  the 
dignity  and  design  of  it:  Both  these  ministers 
of  God  were  sent  upon  their  commissions  by  a  voice 
from  heaven.  God  appeared  to  Moses  in  a  bush  that 
burned  with  fire,  and  said,  I  have  seen  the  affliction  of 
my  people  which  is  in  Egypt,  and  I  have  heard  their 
groaning,  and  am  come  down  to  deliver  them  ;  and, 
now  come,  I  will  send  thee  into  Egypt.  So  when 
Jesus  was  appointed  to  his  ministry,  there  came  a  voice 
from  the  excellent  glory,  this  is  my  beloved  Son  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased. 

The  redemption  of  the  people  under  Moses,  at  the 
Exodus  from  Egypt,  having  already  been  considered 
as  a  figure  of  the  worlds  redemption  under  Jesus 
Christ,  I  need  not  dwell  upon  it  here.  I  may  however 
observe,  that  as  the  servitude  of  the  Hebrews  was  ex- 
treme, and  their  oppression  intolerable,  when  Moses 
was  raised  up  to  redeem  them  ;  so  was  the  power  of 
Satan  at  its  utmost  height,  over  Jews  and  Gentiles,  at 
the  coming  of  Christ.  He  was  permitted  to  bind  and 
to  oppress  after  a  strange  manner  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  Abraham .  And  if  we  consider  the  state  of  the  Hea- 
thens at  that  time  all  over  the  world,  we  find  them  un- 
der the  grossest  darkness  of  idolatry,  and  the  most 
abominable  corruption  of  manners  :  so  that  Christ  was 
wanted  by  the  world  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  as  much  as 
Moses  by  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt. 


L*ct.  9.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  i  53 

On  this  occasion,  we  have  before  us  a  remarkable- 
sign  attending-  the  mission  of  Moses  ;  which  being  in- 
sisted upon  by  St.  Stephen  must  (like  all  the  other  ways 
of  God)  have  its  sense  and  signification.  God  appear- 
ed to  Moses  in  the  desert,  from  a  bush  which  was  on 
fire,  and  yet  was  not  consumed.  Which  is  a  sign, 
first  applying  itself  as  an  assurance  of  deliverance  from 
the  affliction  of  Egypt ;  and  secondly,  as  a  pattern  of 
the  incarnation,  when  God  should  come  down  from  hea- 
ven to  redeem  the  whole  world. 

The  burning  bush  was  an  earnest  and  a  pledge 
to  assure  Moses,  that  the  people  of  God,  though 
then  in  a  low  and  miserable  condition,  (aptly  signi- 
fied by  a  thorn  growing  on  a  desert,)  and  under  a 
fiery  trial  in  a  furnace  of  affliction,  should  yet  survive 
it  all ;  as  the  bush,  though  in  the  midst  of  a  flame  of 
fire,  was  not  consumed.  According  to  this  model, 
such  should  the  event  be ;  and  such  in  fact  it  was, 
to  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt.  As  God  was  present 
in  the  bush  which  was  not  burned,  so  being  pre- 
sent with  his  people  in  their  fiery  trial,  and  as  it  were 
partaking  with  them  in  their  sufferings,  they  would 
certainly  be  delivered  out  of  them  :  according  to  those 
words  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  ;  In  all  their  afflictions  he 
was  afflicted,  and  the  angel  of  his  presence  saved  them; 
which  passage  some  of  the  Jewish  commentators  them- 
selves have  properly  applied  to  this  exhibition  of  the 
burning  bush,  as  a  sign  that  God  was  with  his  people 
in  their  afflictions,  to  defend  and  preserve  them  in  the 
fiery  trial. 

And  if  this  wonderful  spectacle  was  a  sign  that  God 


154  0I*  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         JLect.  9. 

was  with  them  ;  surely  it  was  also  a  sign  that  he  would 
be  with  us  in  a  like  form  for  the  salvation  of  the  world 
from  the  bondage  of  sin  :  that,  as  the  thorn  of  the  de- 
sert is  the  lowest  amongst  the  trees,  so  should  he  take 
upon  himself  the  form  of  a  servant,  the  lowest  condition 
of  humanity ;  submitting  to  serve  with  us,  and  be 
afflicted  in  all  our  afflictions  ;  that  in  and  with  him  we 
might  be  enabled  to  sustain  and  survive  the  sharpness 
of  death.  That,  as  the  children  in  the  furnace  of  fire 
felt  no  harm,  because  the  Son  of  God  was  with  them 
in  the  midst  of  it ;  so  should  not  we  be  consumed  by 
the  trials  of  this  world,  or  the  fire  of  judgment  itself. 
Herein  was  it  also  signified,  that  the  manifestation  of 
God  to  man  should  not  be  that  of  a  consuming  fire, 
but  of  a  benign  h>ht  and  glory  instead  of  it ;  a  light  to 
lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  his  people  /?- 
rael.  It  was  signified  that  wrath  was  turned  away ; 
that  God  was  reconciled,  and  that  there  is  good  will 
to  man  from  him  tha'  dwelt  in  the  bush.* 

This  appearance  of  God  to  Moses  is  such  a  testi- 
mony to  his  appearance  afterwards  in  the  flesh,  that  if 
we  lay  the  whole  together  as  a  figure  of  the  poverty  of 
his  birth,  like  that  of  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground  ;  of 
the  servility  of  his  condition  ;  of  the  thorns  he  bore  at 
his  crucifixion ;  of  the  glory  and  brightness  of  his 
transfiguration  ;  of  the  misery  of  man ;  the  condescen- 
sion of  God  ;  the  necessity  of  a  Redeemer :  in  all  these 
things  met  together  in  this  exhibition  of  the  burning 
bus!  ,  i  see  a  complication  of  wonders,  which  cannot 

*  Deuteronomy  xxxiii.  16. 


Lect.  9.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  165 

worthily  be  spoken  of:  we  must  adore  the  subject  as 
we  can,  and  leave  it  to  the  more  adequate  contempla- 
tion of  angels. 

The  work  of  Moses  in  delivering  his  people  was  at- 
tended with  a  display  of  divine  power,  which  shewed 
how  it  should  be  in  the  other  case.  He  brought  them 
out,  saith  St.  Stephen,  after  he  had  shelved  wonders  and 
signs  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  in  the  Red-sea,  and  in 
the  wilderness  forty  years.  So  it  may  be  said  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  words  to  the  same  effect,"  He  brought  them 
out  after  he  had  showed  wonders  and  signs  ;  casting 
out  devils,  healing  the  sick,  raising  the  dead,  feeding  a 
hungry  multitude  in  a  wilderness,  and  giving  every 
possible  demonstration  of  a  divine  power,  exercised 
for  the  deliverance  and  salvation  of  the  people  of 
#God.» 

The  power  of  Moses  in  Egypt,  and  at  the  Red- sea, 
and  in  the  wilderness,  was  as  visible  as  the  sun  in  the 
heavens ;  and  it  was  as  plain  and  certain  that  he  acted 
by  the  finger  of  God,  as  that  he  acted  at  all.  But  now 
the  argument  of  St.  Stephen  leads  us  to  observe,  as  one 
of  the  greatest  of  all  wonders,  how  this  man  of  might 
and  wisdom,  so  miraculously  preserved,  and  so  high- 
ly commissioned,  was  understood  and  received  by  the 
people  to  whom  he  was  sent  ?  For  if  the  forefathers 
of  the  Jews  had  rejected  their  lawgiver  thus  commis- 
sioned, and  attested  by  all  the  evidences  of  divine 
power  ;  then  was  it  so  far  from  being  any  objection 
against  Jesus  Christ,  that  they  had  misunderstood  him, 
and  hated  him,  and  crucified  him ;  that  it  was  requisite 
to  the  truth  and  divinity  of  his  commission,  that  his 


166  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.9. 

brethren  should  sellbhm,  and  cast  him  out,  as  they  had 
done  to  Joseph  ;  and  that  they  should  refuse  him,  as 
they  had  refused  Moses.  With  this  argument  St. 
Stephen  pressed  the  Jews,  till  they  were  unable  to  bear 
the  force  of  it :  and,  I  declare,  I  think  it  so  forcible  at 
this  day,  that  a  man  must  either  be  a  Christian  upon  the 
strength  of  it,  or  fall  into  a  rage  like  the  Jews,  if  he 
has  an  interest  against  it.  Hear  how  the  case  is  repre- 
sented— "  This  Moses  whom  they  refused,  saying, 
who  made  thee  a  ruler  and  a  judge,  the  same  did  God 
send  to  be  a  ruler  and  a  deliverer,  by  the  hands  of  the 
angel  which  appeared  to  him  in  the  bush." — He  sup- 
posed that  his  brethren  would  have  understood,  how 
that  God  by  his  hand  would  deliver  them  ;  but  they  un- 
derstood not — "  This  is  he — to  whom  our  fathers 
would  not  obey,  but  thrust  him  from  them,  and  in 
their  hearts  turned  back  again  into  Egypt." 

What  the  high  priest  and  the  people  of  the  Jews,  be- 
fore whom  St.  Stephen  pleaded,  must  have  felt  in  their 
minds  from  such  a  representation  as  this,  when  the  fact 
of  rejecting  Jesus  Christ  was  fresh  upon  their  memo- 
ries and  consciences,  is  more  easy  to  be  conceived 
than  expressed.  There  is  no  occasion  on  which  the 
mind  of  man  feels  more  miserable,  than  when  it  is  con- 
vinced without  being  converted.  Such  was  the  case 
with  St.  Stephen's  hearers;  so  they  acted  like  men  that 
were  possessed ;  they  gnashed  with  their  teeth,  and 
stopped  their  ears,  and  ran  upon  him  in  a  fury  to  put 
him  to  death:  for  so  doth  bigotry  dispose  of  those 
whom  it  cannot  answer. 

Let  us  suppose,  however,  that  some  one  amongst 


Lict.  9. 1  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  167 

the  rest  was  prevailed  upon  to  apply  the  cases  of 
Joseph  and  Moses,  as  St.  Stephen  had  stated  them, 
to  what  had  lately  come  to  pass  in  Jerusalem :  then 
would  he  have  reasoned  with  himself  in  some  such 
words  as  these: — 

l*  Jesus  of  Nazareth  offered  himself  to  our  nation  as 
the  true  Messiah  and  the  King  of  the  Jews ;  yet  none 
of  our  rulers  or  priests  or  pharisees  believed  on  him,  but 
hated  him  and  despised  him.  What  then  ?  Was  not 
the  holy  patriarch  Joseph,  with  all  his  innocence  and 
virtue,  hated  of  his  brethren,  and  persecuted  for  envy  ? 
One  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  betrayed  and  sold  him  for 
a  sum  of  money,  and  he  was  delivered  to  the  Romans 
as  a  slave  and  a  malefactor:  but  so  did  Joseph's  breth- 
ren sell  him,  and  so  did  that  innocent  victim  go  down 
into  Egypt  among  heathens  as  a  slave,  and  was  impri- 
soned as  a  malefactor  under  a  false  accusation.  Yet 
did  God  bring  this  same  Joseph  to  honour,  and  made 
his  family  who  had  despised  him  bow  down  before 
him ;  as  they  say,  God  has  now  exalted  this  same 
Jesus,  and  that  every  knee  is  to  bow  to  him.  Many 
and  mighty  were  the  miracles  of  Jesus,  such  as  we 
could  not  disprove,  and  such  as  were  proper  to  shew 
that  he  was  the  expected  Redeemer  :  but  we  who  were 
witnesses  of  them  did  not  accept  of  them  as  such. 
Thus  did  our  lawgiver  Moses  come  forth  to  avenge 
our  wrongs  upon  the  Egyptians,  supposing  that  his 
brethren  would  understand,  from  the  part  he  took, 
that  God  by  his  hand  would  deliver  them  ;  but  they 
understood  not ;  they  accused  him  for  what  he  had 
done,  and  took  part  with  the  Egyptians,  as  we  have 


163  °N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  9- 

taken  part  with  the  Romans,  our  task-masters,  against 
Jesus  Christ.  When  Moses  undertook  to  compose 
the  differences  of  his  brethren  and  restore  them  to 
peace,  the  aggressor  flew  in  his  face,  and  questioned 
his  authority  with  those  saucy  words,  who  made  thee 
a  ruler  and  a  judge?  Thus  did  we  insolently  demand 
of  Jesus  on  every  occasion,  who  gave  him  his  autho- 
rity ;  instead  of  submitting  to  it,  and  taking  advantage 
of  it  for  our  own  good.  We  represented  him  not  as 
a  Saviour,  such  as  his  works  proved  him  to  be,  but  a 
destroyer,  (as  they  made  Moses  a  murderer,)  an  ac- 
complice of  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  the  devils  and 
the  destroyer  of  mankind.  Thus  have  we  done  unto 
him  as  our  fathers  did  unto  Moses  :  Yet  was  Moses 
sent  of  God  to  bring  us  out  of  Egypt ;  and  therefore 
so  was  Jesus  sent  to  save  his  people  from  their  sins. 
When  Moses  had  overthrown  the  Egyptians  and  led 
our  fathers  into  the  Wilderness,  the  people  would  not 
obey  him,  but  turned  back  in  their  hearts  into  Egypt, 
the  scene  of  all  their  misery  :  and  if  we  have  thrust 
Jesus  from  us,  it  must  have  been  owing  to  the  same 
cause,  a  vile  attachment  to  this  sinful  world,  which 
holds  us  in  bondage,  and  has  made  us  take  part  against 
him  with  our  tyrants  and  oppressors. 

"  Upon  the  whole  then,  our  refusal  of  Jesus  Christ 
can  be  no  argument  against  him.  Moses  was  undoubt- 
edly sent  to  be  a  ruler  and  deliverer,  and  we  all  believe 
it ;  yet  he  was  refused  by  the  people  whom  God  sent 
him  to  redeem ;  and  though  they  had  been  witness  of 
all  his  mighty  works,  their  hearts  were  not  converted. 
So  it  hath  been  with  us  now ;  and  therefore  wo  be 


Lect.  9.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  I59 

unto  us!  we  areverily  guilty  concerning  this  our  brother, 
and  what  is  most  to  our  shame  and  confusion,  our  guilt 
is  of  such  a  form  as  to  turn  against  ourselves,  and  prove 
the  very  thing  we  have  been  so  forward  to  deny ;  name. 
ly,  that  he  who  was  sold  like  Joseph,  hath  like  him  re- 
ceived favour  and  dominion ;  that  he  who  hath  been  af- 
fronted and  refused  and  thrust  away  by  us  as  Moses 
was,  is  the  true  lawgiver,  whom  we  have  thus  con- 
formed in  all-  things  to  the  example  of  our  prophet  even 
of  that  Moses,  who  said,  A  prophet  shall  the  Lord  your 
God  rise  up  like  unto  me  ;  and  we  have  done  all  that 
was  wanting  on  our  part  to  make  the  likeness  com- 
plete." 

Thus  must  they  have  reasoned,  on  whom  St.  Ste- 
phen's argument  had  the  proper  effect;  and  thus  would 
the  Jews  reason  at  this  day,  who  know  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, and  have  heard  the  history  of  Jesus  Christ,  if 
they  were  not  under  a  judicial  infatuation,  which  God 
can  remove  when  it  is  just  and  fit.  We  who  are  not  un- 
der the  like  blindness  can  see  how  plainly  and  irresisti- 
bly these  figures  of  the  Old  Testament  shew  the  cer- 
tainty of  those  things  wherein  we  have  been  instructed. 
When  Stephen  disputed  with  the  Jews,  he  took  advan- 
tage of  this  evidence,  and  they  were  not  able  to  resist 
the  wisdom  and  the  spirit  with  which  he  spake. 
When  we  hear  of  the  effect  of  this  disputation,  and  find 
nothing  in  his  speech  but  a  mere  narrative  of  facts  com- 
piled from  the  scripture,  we  wonder  how  the  Jews  could 
be  so  provoked  by  it,  more  than  by  reading  the  Bible 
according  to  their  daily  custom :  but  when  we  sec  how 

22 


J70  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         JLect.  9. 

all  this  is  pointed  as  a  testimony  to  the  sufferings  and 
exaltation  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  wonder  ceases  ; 
and  it  is  no  longer  strange,  that  they  whose  hearts  were 
not  turned  to  good  by  it,  should  be  provoked  to  rage 
and  persecution. 

This  subject  will  suggest  some  important  reflections 
which  1  must  beg  of  you  to  take  into  your  serious  con- 
sideration, and  lay  them  up  in  your  hearts  as  long  as 
you  live. 

1.  From  the  cases  of  Joseph  and  Moses,  and  more 
particularly  from  that  of  Christ  himself,  we  are  to  learn 
that  the  qualifications  which  recommend  a  person  to 
God,  will  not  make  him  acceptable  or  respectable  with 
men,  but  often  the  contrary  ;  for  amongst  men, 
innoctnce  is  envied,  godliness  is  despised,  zeal  dis- 
couraged, and  justice  hated.  Whence  it  has  been 
established  by  wise  and  virtuous  men,  as  a  maxim 
founded  on  experience,  that  the  voice  of  the  multitude 
is  never  to  be  regarded  as  a  test  of  truth  or  merit. — 
Fashionable  error  is  a  dreadful  enemy  to  the  advocates 
of  truth :  and  there  never  was  an  age  or  country  in 
which  error  did  not  get  into  the  fashion,  and  take  the 
direction  of  men's  minds  ;  so  that  truth  has  but  a  poor 
chance  without  an  overruling  Providence  to  second 
and  enforce  it.  We  have  a  famous  passage  to  this  effect 
from  the  greatest  moral  philosopher  of  the  Greeks, 
who  declared  with  a  kind  of  prescience,  that  if  a  man 
perfectly  just  were  to  come  upon  earth,  he  would  be 
impoverished,  and  scourged,  and  bound  as  a  criminal,. 


Lect.  9.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  171 

and,  when  he  had  suffered  all  manner  of  indignities, 
"would  be  put  to  the  shameful  death  of  suspension  or 
crucifixion.* 

There  is  not  a  more  spotless  character  in  the  scrip- 
ture than  that  of  Joseph :  yet  his  brethren  hated  him, 
and  their  envy  had  no  rest  till  they  had  sent  him  out 
of  their  sight  as  a  slave.  Moses  was  a  pattern  of  meek- 
ness, and  with  a  struggle  of  diffidence  undertook  his 
commission ;  a  commission,  with  which  he  should 
have  been  received  by  a  poor  oppressed  people,  like, 
what  he  was  in  fact,  a  messenger  from  heaven.  But 
they  railed  at  him,  as  if  he  had  only  made  that  condi- 
tion worse  which  was  bad  enough  before ;  so  had  pro- 
voked those  who  were  already  enraged,  and  had  put  a 
sword  into  their  hands  to  slay  them.  Thus  the  fear- 
ful and  unbelieving  (who  are  sometimes  found  amongst 
the  wise  ones  of  this  world)  are  always  disposed  to 
discourage  and  condemn  a  zeal  for  the  cause  of  God 
and  the  rights  of  his  religion,  as  indiscreet,  unseasona- 
ble and  dangerous.  Whence  it  follows,  that  if  we  are 
called  upon  to  act  in  any  public  character,  we  must  do 
people  good  against  their  will,  and  take  the  chance  of 
being  ungratefully  or  even  despitefully  treated  for  it. 


'  *  Several  of  the  fathers  have  taken  notice  of  this  extraordina- 
ry passage  in  Plato;  looking  upon  it  as  a  prediction  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  Just  One,  Jesus  Christ;  and  after  ihem  it  is  noted  by 
Grvtius  de  verit.  Lib.  4.  sect.  12.  Casauhon  (^Terick)  has  a 
learned  and  excellent  criticism  upon  it,  in  his  treatise  OfCredu 
lily  and  Incredulity,  n,  135,  &e. 


172  ON"  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         JLect.  9 

None  but  the  mean-spirited,  or  the  ambitious,  or  the 
insipid,  or  the  hypocritical,  are  spoken  well  of  by  all 
men  ;  and  popular  applause  is  the  grand  object  of  a 
vain  or  knavish  disposition.  Therefore  the  Christian 
is  wisely  admonished,  to  seek  that  praise  which  cometh 
only  from  God;  which  is  never  bestowed  upon  false 
merit,  and  will  never  be  wanting  to  the  true. 

2.  From  the  example  of  the  Jews,  who  were  only 
irritated  by  St.  Stephen's  arguments,  when  they  ought 
to  have  been  converted;  we  see  what  a  dreadful  thing 
it  is  to  have  our  reasons  for  hating  and  rejecting  the 
truth.  It  is  of  infinite  consequence  that  we  should 
enquire  what  that  meaneth — they  received  not  the  love 
of  the  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved.  What  can  be 
plainer  than  truth  ?  And  what  is  more  amiable "?  And 
if  it  saves  us,  what  in  all  the  world  is  half  so  valuable? 
Yet  that  saving  truth  is  the  only  truth  men  cannot  of 
themselves  understand  :  and  ii  they  do  not  understand 
it,  what  fearful  commotions  are  raised  by  it!  It  is  a 
powerful  drug,  which  will  either  embitter  and  enflame 
the  mind,*  or  restore  it  to  reason.  The  bigotted  Jew, 
the  ancient  heathen,  the  modern  infidel,  the  man  of 
levity  and  pleasure,  are  all  upon  a  level,  all  equally  ad- 
verse to  the  Christian  plan  of  salvation ;  all  equally 
restless  and  impatient  when  the  proofs  of  it  are  laid  be- 
fore them.  Even  Paul  himself  (who  from  the  part  he 
took  when  the  blood  of  the  martyr  Stephen  was  shed, 


StuUofacil  insanos.    T$R. 


Lect.  9.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  173 

must  have  been  present  at  the  trial,)  could  hear  the 
martyr's  apology  without  being  persuaded  by  it ;  that 
very  man,  who  afterwards  struck  into  the  same  way 
of  interpretation,  and  delighted  to  apply  the  figures 
of  the  law  as  a  testimony  to  Jesus  Christ.  There  was 
a  time  when  he  was  not  only  deaf,  but  inveterate,  and 
as  he  said,  exceedingly  mad  against  the  Christians  and 
all  their  arguments.  Stephen  might  look  like  an  angel : 
and  reason  iike  an  angel  :  nothing  could  touch  him. 
He  had  an  opinion  that  the  Christians  were  wrong,  and 
deserved  to  be  persecuted  :  but  opinion  is  that  judg- 
ment which  a  man  forms  of  the  things  of  God  without 
the  grace  of  God.  When  Stephen  had  reasoned  with 
his  hearers,  he  prayed  for  them;  and  perhaps  the  con- 
version of  that  glorious  instrument  of  God,  the  blessed 
apostle  St.  Paul,  might  be  granted  in  consequence  of 
that  prayer. 

3.  We  are  lastly  to  learn  from  the  deliverance  of  the 
Hebrews  under  Moses,  which  God  was  pleased  to  ac- 
complish by  his  hand,  after  all  the  contempt  and  op- 
position he  had  met  with  ;  that,  however  the  church,  in 
bad  times,  may  be  corrupted  and  oppressed,  and  even 
averse  to  its  own  deliverance,  yet  the  counsel  of  God  is 
sure  ;  and  He  who  hath  promised  to  be  with  it  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  will  never  forsake  its  interests. — 
Kings,  with  their  statesmen  and  politicians,  may  be  jea- 
lous of  its  rights,  and  invade  them  without  fear  or 
shame  ;  nay,  the  time  may  come,  when  the  very  idea 
of  a  divine  authority,  either  in  priests  or  kings,  shall 
be  as  hateful  among  Christians,  as  Moses  and  Aaron 


174  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  IANGUAGB  {L*ct.  9. 

were  to  Pharaoh  and  the  magicians  of  Egypt :  and 
there  are  too  many  amongst  us  already,  who  cannot 
speak  of  it  with  patience.  But  the  powers  of  the  world 
can  proceed  no  farther  than  God  shall  permit ;  and 
when  things  are  at  the  worst,  and  seemingly  past 
remedy,  then  will  the  time  of  the  promise  draw  ni^h  ; 
God  shall  interpose  in  what  form  and  manner  he 
sees  best ;  and  the  church  shall  be  conducted  to 
glory  and  liberty,  as  the  afflicted  Hebrews  were  led 
forth  to  the  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan 


feKCT.lO.J  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  X75 


LECTURE  X. 

ON  MIRACLES;  PARTICULARLY,  THE  MIRACLES  OF  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT,  AS  THEY  BELONG  TO  THE  FIGURATIVE 
LANGUAGE  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE. 

WE  are  prepared  to  consider  the  miracles  of  the 
gospel,  as  descriptive  of  something  beyond  themselves; 
because  we  have  already  seen  how  the  miracles  of 
Moses,  for  the  saving  of  the  Israelites,  are  applied  in 
the  New  Testament,  as  figures  of  the  saving  of  all 
mankind  by  Jesus  Christ.  Our  Saviour  applied  the 
lifting  up  of  the  serpent  by  Moses  in  the  wilderness, 
to  the  lilting  up  of  himself  upon  the  cross,  to  draw  all 
men  unto  him  for  the  cure  of  their  souls.  The  apos- 
tle tells  us,  that  the  rock  which  Moses  smote,  to  give 
drink  to  the  people,  was  Christ ;  that  is,  a  figure  of 
Christ,  smitten  for  our  sins,  and  giving  to  a  thirsty 
world  the  waters  of  life.  Moses  fed  the  people  with 
manna,  but  that  manna  was  a  figure  of  the  true  bread 
from  heaven  -which  giveth  life  unto  the  world.  These 
things  were  our  examples  :  the  miracles  wrought  for 
them  were  signs  of  the  miracles  to  be  wrought  for 
us.  And  as  it  was  under  the  law,  so  it  is  under  the 
gospel:  the  miracles  of  Christ  are  not  of  any  private 
interpretation,  but,  like  the  miracles  of  Moses,  with  a 
miraculous  effect  carry  a  miraculous  signification. 


176  0N  ™E  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  10. 

And  now,  for  the  right  understanding  of  this  whole 
matter,  we  are  to  consider,  that  the  name  of  Jesus  was 
given,  because  he  who  bore  it  was  to  save  his  people 
from  their  sins.  Sin  is  the  great  distemper  of  man, 
and  salvation  from  sin  is  the  great  deliverance.  The 
want  of  grace  is  the  greatest  want  of  man,  and  there- 
fore grace  is  the  greatest  gift  of  God.  To  save  us 
from  sin,  and  restore  us  to  grace,  was  the  great  work 
which  Jesus  Christ  descended  from  heaven  to  accom- 
plish. Every  word  and  every  action  of  his  life  tended 
either  to  effect  this,  or  to  give  us  a  right  understanding 
of  it :  therefore,  when  we  see  him  working  miraculous 
cures  upon  men's  bodies,  we  are  still  to  consider 
him  as  the  Saviour  of  men's  souls ;  and  that  he  cured 
their  bodies,  as  a  pledge  to  assure  us  thereof. 

As  this  is  a  matter  of  infinite  importance  toward 
the  advancement  of  a  Christian  in  the  true  knowledge 
and  spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  not  so  obvious  to  com- 
mon understandings,  I  have  reserved  it  to  my  last  ex- 
pository Lecture,  that  you  may  take  advantage  of  all 
that  has  gone  before  :  and  when  you  see  into  the  figu- 
rative intention  of  the  miracles  of  Christ,  you  will  want 
no  more  of  my  instructions  concerning  the  language 
of  the  scripture. 

The  wonders  which  Jesus  Christ  wrought  upon 
earth  in  the  course  of  his  ministry  were  all  of  a  par- 
ticular sort,  because  more  ends  than  one  were  to  be 
answered  by  them.  The  world  was  not  only  to  believe 
the  fact  of  his  heavenly  mission,  but  to  understand  the 
design  and  object  of  it.  Any  supernatural  act  would 
have  shewn  that  he  was  invested  with  supernatural 


Lect.  lO.f  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^77 

power ;  but  as  the  object  of  his  commission  was  to 
save  mankind  from  their  sins,  all  his  miracles  were 
signs  of  salvation  towards  the  bodies  of  men;  all  ex- 
planatory of  his  great  work  in  redeeming  their  souls 
from  the  fatal  effects  of  sin.  He  went  about  doing 
good;  and  aecording  to  the  present  state  of  things  un- 
der the  fall,  to  do  good,  is  to  remove  evil ;  to  save 
mankind  is  to  undo  and  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil. 
The  worst  of  these  take  place  upon  the  soul ;  but  we 
cannot  apprehend  them  without  some  help,  because 
the  soul  is  invisible.  When  we  speak  of  the  faculties 
of  the  soul,  we  are  obliged  to  borrow  our  words  from 
the  faculties  of  the  body  ;  so  the  evils  and  distem- 
pers of  the  soul  must  be  signified  to  us  by  the  evils 
and  distempers  of  the  body  :  and  both  of  these  proceed 
from  the  same  cause;  for  had  there  been  no  sin  in  the 
soul,  there  would  have  been  no  death  m  the  body. — 
The  bodies  of  men  fell  into  infirmities  along  with  their 
souls  :  and  it  was  of  God's  mercy  that  it  so  happened, 
for  we,  who  take  all  our  notions  of  the  soul  and  its 
operations  from  those  of  the  body,  could  not  other- 
wise have  understood  the  distempers  of  the  mind  : 
whence  it  too  frequently  happens,  that  they  who  never 
were  sick,  are  apt  to  be  ignorant  of  the  weakness  of 
the  inward  man,  and  so  become  confident  and  self- 
sufficient — thou  say  est,  I  am  rich,  and  have  need  of 
nothing,  and  knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched,  and 
miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked.* 

When  man  was  first  placed  in  paradise,  his  body 

*  Revelations  iii.  17. 
23 


178  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLbct.  10. 

\\as  in  health,  and  his  soul  had  all  its  faculties  in  per- 
fection :  and  if  we  would  know  what  a  perfect  soul  is, 
we  must  consider  what  a  perfect  body  is.  When  the 
body  of  man  is  in  a  state  of  perfection,  its  senses  are  all 
perfect.  Its  sight  is  quick  and  strong  ;  its  hearing  is 
uninterrupted  ;  its  limbs  are  vigourous  and  active ;  it 
distinguishes  all  tastes  and  all  odours  without  error, 
and  in  its  feelings  it  is  sensible  of  all  the  impressions 
of  the  elements.  So  when  the  soul  is  in  equal  health, 
it  sees  and  understands  things  spiritual ;  it  sees  God 
and  his  truth  as  plainly  as  the  eye  sees  the  light  of  the 
day  ;  it  hears  and  attends  to  all  important  and  useful  in- 
formation ;  it  walks  with  God  in  the  way  of  his  com- 
mandments, and  even  runs  with  pleasure  to  do  his  will, 
as  the  angels  fly  through  the  heaven  for  the  same  pur- 
pose :  it  distinguishes  good  and  evil  without  error ; 
anp1,  apprehending  their  different  effects  and  conse- 
quences, it  relishes  the  one  and  abhors  the  other ;  its 
speech  is  employed  in  the  praises  of  God,  and  will  be 
telling  of  his  wonders  from  day  to  day,  for  it  knows 
no  end  thereof ;  it  therefore  preserves  its  relation  to 
God,  as  his  child,  his  scholar,  his  subject,  in  affection, 
attention,  and  obedience.  O  blessed  state  !  who  oan 
survey  this  condition  of  humanity  without  bewailing  its 
loss,  and  aspiring  to  its  restoration  ?  For  lost  it  was  ; 
and  under  that  loss  we  are  now  suffering  ;  and  as  such 
sufferers  we  were  visited  by  Jesus  Christ.  When  sin 
entered,  man  fell  from  this  perfect  state  of  mind,  into 
ignorance  and  blindness  of  heart ;  inattention  to  divine 
knowledge  and  instruction:  aversion  to  spiritual 
things  ;  error  of  judgment;  insensibility  of  the  conse- 


Lect.10.}  of  the  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  179 

quences  of  good  and  evil ;  and  inability,  as  well  as  in- 
disposition, to  do  the  will  of  God.  His  soul  is  as  a 
body  maimed  and  distempered  :  for  sin  is  not  only  a 
defect,  but  a  positive  disease,  including  the  nature  of 
all  the  diseases  incident  to  man.  The  eyes  of  his  mind 
are  blind;  its  ears  are  deaf;  its  tongue  is  dumb  ;  its 
feet  are  lame ;  its  constitution  infected  with  foul  dis- 
tempers ;  it  is  agitated  with  vain  cares,  cheated  with 
vain  pleasures,  and  distressed  with  emptiness  and  want. 
When  the  apostle  had  this  subject  before  him,  well 
might  he  exclaim,  0  wretched  man  that  I  am,  who 
shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?  For  the 
life  we  have  upon  these  terms  as  natural  men,  is  rather 
death  than  life ;  and  so  the  gospel  hath  considered  it : 
we  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  and  the  world  in 
which  we  live  is  dead  unto  God. 

Now  as  Jesus  Christ  came  to  restore  us  from  this 
state  of  disease  and  death  into  which  we  are  fallen,  all 
his  mighty  works  present  him  to  us  as  a  deliverer  from 
these  evils,  and  therefore  while  his  miracles  were  evi- 
dences of  his  own  divine  mission,  they  were  signs  of 
our  salvation.  They  all  spake  the  same  sense ;  and 
our  Saviour  himself  hath  given  us  a  key  to  the  right 
interpretation  of  them  all:  who,  when  he  was  about  to 
give  sight  to  a  man  born  blind,  did  not  proceed  to  the 
cure,  till  he  had  instructed  his  disciples  in  the  sense  of 
it,  in  such  terms  as  could  not  be  applied  to  it  as  a  bo- 
dily cure.  "As  long  as  I  am  in  the  world,  I  am  the 
light  of  the  world,"  as  if  he  had  said,  "  I  give  light  to 
this  man  born  in  darkness,  as  a  sign  that  1  give  light  to 
mankind,  who  are  all  born  in  the  like  state.     This  man 


|80  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  10. 

is  but  an  individual,  and  all  the  persons  to  whom  I  shall 
restore  their  bodily  sight  are  but  few  :  but  a  spiritual 
discernment  in  the  eyes  of  the  mind  is  necessary  to  all 
mankind ;  therefore  I  who  give  it  am  a  light  to  the 
-whole  world,  and  I  give  sight  to  this  man  as  a  sign  of 
it." 

That  the  miracle  might  be  more  instructive,  a  very 
peculiar  form  was  given  to  it.  He  moulded  the  dust 
of  the  ground  into  clay,  and  having  spread  it  upon  the 
eyes  of  the  man,  he  commanded  him  to  go  and  wash 
off  this  dirt  in  the  pool  of  Si  loam.  Here  the  reason  of 
the  thing  speaks  for  itself.  What  is  this  mire  and  clay 
upon  the  eyes,  but  the  power  this  world  has  over  us  in 
shutting  out  the  truth  ?  Who  are  the  people  unto  whom 
the  gloiious  light  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  cannot  shine, 
but  they  whose  minds  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blind- 
ed? So  long  as  this  world  retains  its  influence,  the 
gospel  is  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  men  ;  they  are  in  a 
lost  condition ;  and  nothing  can  clear  them  of  this  de- 
filement, but  the  water  of  the  divine  Spirit  sent  from 
above  to  wash  it  away.  This  seems  to  be  the  moral 
sense  of  the  miracle ;  and  a  miracle  thus  understood 
becomes  a  sermon,  than  which  none  in  the  world  can 
be  more  edifying.  Our  Saviour  himself  preached  in 
the  same  way  to  his  disciples,  to  instruct  them  in  the 
nature  of  his  mission,  and  of  their  own  salvation.  In 
short,  the  gospel  is  sealed  up,  and  a  man  may  as  well 
read  a  modern  system  of  morality,  unless  he  sees  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  physician  of  human  nature,  and  that 
a  miserable  and  sickly  world  is  in  daily  want  of  his 
healing  power. 


Lect.IO.J  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  Jg]^ 

The  same  spiritual  turn  is  given  to  the  miraculous 
distribution  of  bread  in  the  wilderness.  Christ  in- 
formed the  people,  that  if  they  loll  owed  him  only  to 
cat  of  this  bread,  for  the  feeding  of  their  bodies,  they 
mistook  the  nature  of  the  miracle.  Ye  seek  me  be- 
cause yc  did  eat  of  the  loaves  and  were  filled.  Labour 
not  for  the  meat  that  perisheth,  but  for  that  meat  which 
endureth  unto  life,  which  the  Son  of  man  shall  give 
unto  you.  The  meat  he  then  gave  was  only  a  figure 
of  that  which  he  gives  in  a  higher  sense  to  all  that 
believe  on  him,  and  which  is  meat  indeed ;  no  other 
in  comparison  of  this  being  worthy  of  the  name.  By 
bread  our  Saviour  sometimes  means  the  doctrine  of 
the  gospel,  which  nourishes  the  mind ;  and  sometimes 
his  own  body  spiritually  taken  in  the  eucharist :  but 
whether  we  here  understand  the  bread  of  the  Lord's 
supper,  or  the  preaching  of  the  word ;  both  are  dis- 
tributed to  the  hungry  multitude  of  mankind  in  the 
midst  of  this  desert ;  and  a  sort  of  food  this  is,  which, 
like  the  manna  laid  up  in  the  tabernacle,  (called  the 
hidden  manna,*)  never  perisheth,  but  nourisheth  the 
soul  to  life  eternal. 

From  the  curing  of  the  blind  and  the  feeding  of  the 
hungry,  let  us  proceed  to  the  raising  of  the  dead.  It 
appears  to  us  as  a  most  wonderful  thing,  that  a  dead 
man  should  hear  the  voice  of  Jesus  Christ  and  return 
to  life :  but  it  is  more  wonderful  that  the  grace  of  God 
and  the  calling  of  his  gospel  should  revive  a  man  dead 
in  sin ;  because,  to  speak  after  the  manner  of  men,  it 

.  *  Revelations  ii.  17. 


182  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  10. 

seems  harder  to  revive  a  dead  soul  than  to  raise  a  dead 
body.  And  now  observe  the  order  of  things.  The 
first  transgression  brought  with  it  a  present  death  to 
the  spirit  of  man,  and  a  future  death  to  his  body.  The 
power  of  the  gospel  brings  a  present  life  to  the  spirit, 
and  a  future  life  to  the  body ;  and  as  the  renovation  of 
the  spirit  is  the  greater  in  effect,  and  most  necessary  to 
be  understood,  the  restoration  of  a  dead  body,  which 
is  more  striking  to  the  senses,  is  exhibited  as  a  visible 
sign  of  it.  The  scripture  therefore  in  many  places 
speaks  of  the  conversion  of  the  soul  to  a  life  of  righte- 
ousness as  a  rising  from  the  dead ;  as  in  Eph.  v.  14, 
where  the  apostle  paraphrases  these  words  of  the  pro- 
phet Isaiah,  Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come,  and 
gives  their  full  meaning  to  them ;  Awake  thou  that 
sleep  est,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give 
thee  light.*  Here  the  dead  are  of  the  same  sort  with 
those  spoken  of  by  Christ  in  the  gospel,  Let  the  dead 
bury  their  dead;  of  whom  the  former  are  the  dead  in 
spirit,  and  the  latter  the  dead  in  nature.  The  word 
death  has  the  like  sense  in  the  sentence  which  was  pro- 


*  This  is  delivered  as  the  sense  of  the  prophet,  because  it  is 
ushered  in  as  a  quotation,  wherefore  he  saith  or  it  (that  is,  the 
scripture)  saith.  The  language  of  the  prophet  is  an  allusion  to 
the  rising  of  mankind  from  sleep  when  the  sun  rises  upon  them 
in  the  morning ;  but  as  the  prophet  doth  not  speak  according  to 
the  letter,  the  light  is  the  true  light  of  the  world,  and  the  sleep  is 
the  sleep  of  death,  either  natural  or  spiritual:  and  so  the  apostle 
hath  only  translated  the  words  of  the  prophet  from  the  letter  into 
the  spirit,  and  given  them  their  true  meaning. 


Lect.  10.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  ^33 

nounced  on  man  in  paradise,  In  the  day  thou  eatest 
thou  shalt  die :  and  there  are  numberless  passages  of 
the  Old  Testament,  in  which  the  words  life  and  death 
do  not  signify  the  natural,  but  the  spiritual  life  and 
death.  I  know  not  how  to  understand,  but  by  ad- 
mitting both  a  natural  and  a  spiritual  resurrection ; 
those  other  words  of  Christ,  the  hour  is  coming,  and 
now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son 
of  God;  for  certainly,  the  resurrection  which  now  is, 
must  be  that  figurative  resurrection  spoken  of  by  the 
prophet  and  apostle ;  and  the  margin  of  our  Bibles  ac- 
cordingly refers  us  to  such  passages  as  speak  of  a  quick- 
ening unto  grace.  I  cannot  but  understand  the  raising 
of  Lazarus  from  the  putrid  state  of  death,  as  a  sign  that 
the  same  power  should  revive  men  who  had  been  long 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  and  seemed  to  be  past 
grace ;  as  was  the  case  with  the  whole  heathen  world. 
In  the  raising  of  the  widow's  son  at  the  city  of  Nain, 
we  have  a  lesson  of  this  kind  worthy  of  our  consider- 
ation. "  A  dead  man  was  carried  out,  the  only  son  of 
his  mother,  and  she  was  a  widow,  and  much  people  of 
the  city  was  with  her."  This  was  a  funeral  of  some 
pomp,  and  so  we  may  suppose  the  young  man  was  a 
considerable  person.  Thus,  alas,  do  we  see  many  sons 
of  the  church,  in  the  prime  of  life,  in  their  best  days, 
who  seem  to  know  no  more  that  Jesus  Christ  is  near 
to  them,  than  if  they  were  stretched  out  upon  a  bier. 
Such  examples  are  too  often  found  in  low  life ;  but 
they  are  much  more  common  among  young  men  of 
station  and  fortune  ;  too  many  of  whom  are  totally  in- 
sensible to  the  things  of  God ;  lifeless  and  stupid  at 


184  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         JLect.  10. 

prayer ;  and  as  indifferent  to  the  word  of  God  from  a 
reader  or  a  preacher  of  it,  as  if  the}'  did  not  hear  one 
word  that  is  spoken,  and  had  no  concern  with  that 
other  world,  to  which,  young  as  they  are,  time  is  in 
the  mean  while  carrying  them  out ;  though  they  may 
seem  to  move  slowly  on,  as  is  the  custom  in  a  funeral. 
Nothing  less  than  that  same  power  which  raises  the 
dead  can  awaken  such  to  hear  that  voice  which  is  daily 
calling  unto  them  in  the  words  of  the  gospel,  Young 
man,  I  say  unto  thee,  arise  ;  hear  now  the  voice  of 
him  that  hath  pity  upon  thee,  and  calls  thee  to  rise  and 
be  saved ;  because  thou  wilt  soon  be  forced  to  hear 
that  other  voice,  which  shall  bid  thee  rise  from  the 
earth  to  be  judged  for  thy  sins. 

The  cure  of  sin  in  all  its  symptoms  and  effects  is 
signified  by  other  like  miraculous  works ;  such  as  the 
deliverance  of  the  body  from  bondage  and  imprison- 
ment, from  uncleanness,  from  weakness,  lameness, 
deafness,  poison,  and  madness,  or  the  possession  of 
the  devil :  all  which  are  so  fulfilled  in  the  deliverance  of 
the  soul  from  sin,  that  the  prophets  seem  rather  to  have 
predicted  the  salvation  of  which  the  miracles  were 
signs,  than  the  miracles  themselves  :  that  is,  they  seem 
to  have  predicted  the  miracles  rather  in  the  spiritual 
sense  than  the  natural.  Thus  where  Isaiah*  describes 
the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  as  a  blossoming  of  roses 
in  a  desart,  and  a  sound  of  joy  and  singing  in  a  lonely 
wilderness  ;  it  follows,  that  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall 
be  opened,  the  ears  of  the  deaf  shall  be  unstopped,  the 

*  Chap.  xxxv. 


Lect.  1C  {  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  135 

lame  man  shall  leap  as  a  hart,  the  tongue  of  the  dumb 
shall  sing,  &c.  all  of  which  expressions  must  be  appli- 
ed to  the  souls  of  men ;  for  if  we  understand  any  of 
them  literally  of  the  body,  we  shall  make  the  passage 
inconsistent  with  itself;  or,  to  make  it  uniform,  we 
must  suppose,  that  the  gospel  should  be  revealed  to 
multiply  flowers  in  a  wilderness.  Therefore,  the  in- 
ference is  easy ;  that  the  works  of  giving  sight  to  the 
blind,  opening  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  &c.  though  cer- 
tainly to  be  performed  by  our  Saviour  in  the  letter, 
were  to  be  no  more  than  signs  of  the  salvation  foretold 
by  the  prophet. 

The  misery  of  man  under  sin,  is  like  the  bondage 
of  an  imprisowed  captive ;  and  the  liberty  of  those  who 
are  made  free  by  the  Son  of  God  under  the  gospel,  is 
like  that  of  a  person  miraculously  brought  out  of 
prison.  As  such  the  prophet  speaks  of  it,  in  a  passage 
which  our  Saviour  has  applied  to  his  own  ministry. — 
"  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  me,  because  he 
hath  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  unto  the  meek, 
he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken  hearted,  to 
proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives.''''  Who  are  these  cap- 
tives  ?  Did  Jesus  Christ  come  to  publish  a  gaol-deli- 
very to  debtors  and  felons  ?  by  no  means  :  but  he  de- 
livers those  who  are  appointed  unto  death,  and  are  tied 
and  bound  with  the  chain  of  their  sins  :  and  to  give  an 
assurance  of  it  to  all  men,  he  miraculously  opened  the 
doors  of  a  dungeon,  and  delivered  his  servants  from 
their  bonds.  When  this  happened  to  Peter,  he  sup- 
posed it  to  be  a  vision  :  when  the  Lord  thus  turned 
his  captivity,  he  was  like  unto  them  that  dream  ;  but 

24 


186  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  10 

he  came  to  himself,  and  considered  the  thing ;  and  see- 
ing farther  into  the  wisdom  of  God  than  we  do,  he 
probably  considered  the  whole  as  a  scenical  represen- 
tation of  that  deliverance,  which  is  wrought  by  him 
who  was  sent  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and 
the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound. 

Sin  appears  to  us  in  another  form,  as  a  loathsome 
distemper,  like  the  leprosy,  which  descended  by  in- 
heritance, and  incrusted  the  whole  body  with  a  foul 
humour.  So  doth  that  sin,  which  is  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  man,  break  out  and  discover  its  offensive  na- 
ture. This  distemper  therefore  the  great  physician 
condescended  to  cure,  either  by  his  word  alone,  or  by 
a  miraculous  washing,  to  denote  the  salutary  effect  of 
baptism.  The  purification  of  the  Gentiles  had  been 
signified  Jong  before  by  the  cleansing  of  Naaman  the 
Syrian,  who  was  ordered  to  wash  seven  times  in 
Jordan.  He  supposed,  that  if  water  would  cure  him, 
the  rivers  of  Damascus  would  have  done  as  well ;  but 
he  was  taught,  that  salvation  was  of  the  Jews :  the 
water  that  could  effect  this  cure,  was  to  be  taken  from 
Jordan,  where  Christ  should  be  baptized  ;  and  his 
baptism  was  a  prelude  to  the  baptism  and  conversion 
of  the  heathen  world ;  whose  distemper  was  afterwards 
transferred  to  the  wordly-minded  Jews,  as  that  of  Naa- 
man was  fixed  upon  Gehazi,  the  covetous  attendant  on 
the  prophet.  To  shew  that  this  cleansing  by  baptism 
should  not  take  place  upon  the  Jews,  but  the  Gentiles, 
our  Saviour  hinted  to  those  of  the  synagogue,  that  there 
were  many  lepers  in  Israel  when  this  happened,  and 
none  of  them  were  cleansed  saving  Naaman  the  Syrian. 


Lect.  10.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  1  37 

The  Jews  could  bear  to  hear  of  any  thing  rather  than 
the  acceptance  of  the  Gentiles  ;  and  seeing  his  mean- 
ing they  were  filled  with  rage,  and  would  have  cast 
him  down  headlong  as  an  enemy  to  his  country. 

Other  miracles  of  Christ  were  intended  to  shew 
how  the  power  of  God  is  necessary  to  help  the  impo- 
tence of  man.  He  must  open  our  lips  before  we  are 
able,  and  furnish  us  with  matter  before  we  know  how 
to  praise  him  or  pray  to  him  ;  therefore  the  tongue  of 
the  dumb  was  loosed,  and  even  babes  and  sucklings 
were  empowered  to  utter  hosannas  to  his  name.  The 
deaf  were  made  to  hear,  because  men  have  ears  which 
neither  hear  nor  understand,  nor  can  attend  to  the 
words  of  divine  wisdom,  till  God  has  opened  them  : 
of  which  there  are  many  lamentable  examples  in  the 
gospel,  and  I  wish  there  were  none  at  this  day. 

The  lame  were  made  to  walk,  because  the  way  of 
man  is  not  in  himself;  it  is  God  alone  that  enableth  us 
to  walk,  yea,  to  run  with  pleasure  and  swiftness,  as  the 
feet  of  an  hind,  in  the  way  of  his  commandments.  In 
short,  all  the  faculties  of  man  are  useless  in  the  service 
of  God,  like  the  limbs  of  one  sick  of  the  palsy,  which 
cannot  lift  or  move  themselves  till  some  new  strength 
is  communicated.  The  prophet  instructs  us  how  this 
should  be  when  God  should  be  revealed  :  Strengthen 
ye  the  week  hands*  and  confirm  the  feeble  knees  ;  or  as 
the  apostle  words  it*  Lift  up  the  hands  which  hang 
downy  and  the  feeble  knees  ;  and  make  strait  paths  for 
your  feet,  lest  that  which  is  lame  be  turned  out  of  the 
way,  but  let  it  rather  be  healed  .■#  which  terms  are  ail 

*Heb.  xii.  13. 


138  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         {Lect.  10. 

applied  in  an  intellectual  sense  to  the  minds  of  weak 
Christians. 

Another  miracle  of  Christ,  and  one  of  the  most  con- 
siderable, is  that  of  relieving  the  possessed  by  casting 
out  evil  spirits  :  the  design  of  which  is  to  teach  us, 
that  there  is  a  spirit  working  in  the  children  of  disobe- 
dience (the  Greek  signifies  possessing*  them,)  which 
nothing  but  the  power  of  the  gospel  can  cast  out. 
When  we  observe  how  strangely  men  err  in  their  judg- 
ment ;  how  they  hasten  towards  their  own  destruction 
maiming  their  bodies  and  ruining  their  fortunes  by 
their  vices,  as  if  they  hated  their  own  jiesh  ;  preferring 
nakedness  and  wretchedness,  and  loathsome  diseases 
and  infamy,  to  peace,  honour,  health  and  happiness ; 
we  must  conclude  they  are  under  the  working  of  some 
malignant  power,  beyond  the  mere  depravity  of  nature, 
for  nature  would  always  act  in  men,  as  it  does  in  brutes 
on  principles  of  self-preservation.  Such  as  were 
possessed  by  the  devil  uttered  horrible  noises,  and  chose 
a  miserable  residence  amongst  the  tombs  of  the  dead. 
And  bad  as  such  a  spectacle  may  be,  it  is  not  a  worse 
example  of  Satan's  power,  than  when  we  hear  a  miser- 
able man  crying  outfor  curses  to  descend  from  heaven, 
inviting  the  blastings  of  lightning  on  their  enemies,  or 
their  friends,  or  themselves  ;  on  their  souls  as  well  as 
their  bodies.  To  live  naked  among  the  tombs  is  not 
a  greater  symptom  of  possession,  than  to  fly  from  God, 
and  his  light  and  truth,  and  seek  after  the  ways  that 
lead  to  death.  To  bruise  the  flesh  in  frantic  fits  of  des- 


*  Ev£fy«»7e? ;  the  common  name  of  daemoniacs,  or  possessed 
people,  was  £v£y«,ttevo<,  Energumenu 


Lect.10.}  of  the  holy  scriptures.  189 

pair,  is  not  worse  than  to  injure  the  health  of  the  body 
with  such  excess  and  riot,  as  wastes  the  flesh,  and 
brings  wounds  and  bruises  and  piitrifying  sores  :  yet 
the  world,  who  are  shocked  at  a  madman,  look  with 
unconcern  on  this  moral  insanity,  because  the  case  is 
common. 

It  is  a  symptom  of  madness  when  a  man  delights  in 
mischief :  and  how  many  do  we  see,  who  have  no 
greater  diversion,  than  to  impose  upon  the  innocent, 
and  terrify  people  with  vain  fears,  or  mock  at  them 
when  they  are  betrayed  into  real  dangers. 

The  wise  man,  considering  how  fools  make  a  mock 
at  sin  ;  how  outrageous  men  are  in  their  mirth,  how 
perverse  in  their  ways,  how  corrupt  and  irrational  in 
their  pleasures,  pronounces  upon  them  in  plain  terms, 
The  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  full  of  evil,  yea  mad- 
ness is  in  their  heart  while  they  live,  and  after  that 
they  go  to  the  dead.*  (Ratione  expulsa  sensuq.  re- 
ligionis  amoto,  quae  immanitas,  quae  feritas,  quae  de- 
mentia, non  illico  exoritur?f)  without  true  religion  to 
sober  them  and  bring  them  to  a  right  mind,  men  are 
in  fact  as  much  out  of  the  way  as  lunatics ;  and  worse 
in  one  respect,  that  they  are  still  accountable  as  free 
agents  for  that  reason  which  vice  has  extinguished. 
The  man  who  does  not  see  and  consider  that  he  is 
come  into  this  world  to  be  saved  by  Jesus  Christ,  is  an 
ideot  to  all  intents  and  purposes  in  the  sight  of  God. 
If  he  is  upon  his  defence  against  the  power  of  the  gos- 

*  Monita  Sf  prcecepta  Christiana,  p.  104. 
f  Eccles.  ix.  3, 


190  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE        {Lect.  10. 

pel,  and  puts  it  from  him  with  those  words  of  the  de- 
moniac. "  Why  art  thou  come  to  torment  us?"  he 
is  a  madman  of  the  first  class,  to  whom  the  poor  luna- 
tic, with  a  sceptre  of  straw,  is  an  hopeful  character. 

Miserable  is  the  condition  of  men  under  temptation 
or  possession  from  evil  spirits  :  but  the  power  of  grace 
sets  us  free  from  their  terrors,  with  those  comfortable 
words,  WJio  is  he  that  shall  harm  you,  if  ye  be  follow- 
ers of  that  which  is  good?  As  a  pledge  to  assure  us 
of  which,  our  Saviour  gave  to  his  apostles  an  evident 
superiority  over  the  powers  of  darkness :  Behold  I  give 
you  power  to  tread  on  serpents  and  scorpions,  and  over 
all  the  power  of  the  enemy,  and  nothing  shall  by  any 
means  hurt  you.*  Who  is  this  enemy  ?  The  enemy 
of  Christians  is  the  devil;  and  such  poisonous  vermin 
as  serpents  and  scorpions  are  the  emblems  of  him  and 
his  children.  A  miraculous  power  over  these  creatures 
which  hurt  the  body,  was  an  outward  assurance  to  the 
world,  that  he  who  wounds  the  soul  shall  have  no  pow- 
er to  hurt  a  Christian.  When  the  viper  fastened  on 
the  hand  of  Paul,  he  shook  him  off  into  the  fire  from 
whence  he  came :  and  thither,  into  the  element  prepar- 
ed for  him,  shall  the  devil  be  shaken  off  by  the  faith 
of  those  whom  he  assaults. 

Another  great  miracle,  and  the  last  I  shall  take  no- 
tice of,  is  that  of  our  Saviour  stilling  the  raging  of  the 
sea,  and  delivering  his  disciples  in  a  storm.  We,  like 
them,  are  embarked  with  Christ  in  the  ark  of  his  church, 
and  are  subject  to  many  dangers  and  terrors  upon  the 

*  Luke  x.  19. 


Lect.  10.}  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  yg± 

waves  of  this  troublesome  world.  So  long  as  we  are 
in  the  world,  we  shall  be  exposed  to  the  cares  and  trou- 
bles of  this  mortal  life.  Sometimes  the  elevations  of 
pride  and  ambition  lifts  us  up  toward  the  heaven,  at 
other  times  disappointment  and  despair  oppress  us,  and 
the  deep  threatens  to  swallow  us  up :  while  the  Saviour 
in  whom  we  have  trusted  seems  to  sleep,  as  if  he  were 
leaving  us  to  perish  in  the  storm.  But  the  prayer  of 
faith  will  at  last  awake  him:  we  are  therefore  to  trust 
in  the  worst  of  times,  that  he  who  rebuked  the  winds 
and  the  sea,  when  his  disciples  cried  out,  Lord,  save 
us,  we  perish,  will  after  the  same  example  save  us 
when  we  pray  to  him  ;  that  he  will  lessen  our  cares, 
and  quiet  our  passions,  and  restore  us  to  peace,  so  that 
there  shall  be  a  great  calm :  the  winds  shall  drop,  the 
sun  shall  shine  out,  and  there  shall  be  peace  of  con- 
science, which  is  the  greatest  calm  in  this  world. 

Thus  it  appears  that  all  the  miracles  of  Christ  have 
a  figurative  acceptation.  From  them  we  learn  all  the 
distempers  of  our  souls,  and  where  we  are  to  apply  for 
the  cure  of  them. 

To  open  this  subject  still  farther,  I  desire  you  will 
observe  what  a  curious  opposition  there  is  between  the 
miracles  of  Christ,  and  the  workings  of  Satan.  As  the 
power  of  Christ  was  exercised  in  such  works  of  salva- 
tion as  were  proper  to  his  character  as  the  Saviour  of 
Souls  ;  so  there  is  a  surprising  agreement  between  the 
outward  works  of  the  devil  on  the  persons  of  men,  and 
his  inward  works  upon  their  minds  ;  insomuch  that  his 
character,  as  a  destroyer,  is  not  less  evident  in  the  scrip- 
ture, than  that  of  Jesus  Christ  as  a  Saviour.    From 


192  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         {Lkct.  It). 

some  opportunities  Satan  had  of  shewing  his  power,  we 
see  how  it  is  exercised.  When  some  strolling  Jews 
took  upon  them  to  deliver  one  that  was  possessed,  the 
man,  in  whom  the  evil  spirit  was,  leaped  upon  his  prey, 
and  they  fled  out  of  the  house  naked  and  wounded. 
He  who  here  strips  men,  and  tears  off  their  clothes,  is 
the  same  that  left  Adam  naked  in  paradise ;  who  delight 
still  to  repeat  the  same  act,  or  even  to  see  the  shadow 
of  it  in  nakedness  and  wretchedness:  therefore  the  poor 
demoniac,  who  resided  among  the  tombs,  ware  no 
clothes.* 

When  the  evil  spirit  went  into  the  herd  of  swine, 
the  whole  herd  ran  headlong  into  the  sea  and  perished. 
After  the  same  form  doth  the  devil  drive  men  headlong 
into  the  gulph  of  perdition,  when  he  gets  the  direction 
of  them.  He  was  permitted  to  possess  this  unclean 
herd,  that  we  may  thence  learn  how  an  unclean  life  will 
prepare  us  to  be  driven  into  hell  itself  by  the  destroyer. 
Temperance,  sobriety,  and  devotion,  prepare  our  bo- 
dies to  be  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  but  impure 
manners  prepare  the  heart  for  unclean  spirits,  and  give 
them  the  opportunity  they  desire.  We  have  heard  of 
certain  arts  to  call  up  the  devil :  but  a  man  need  only 
live  like  a  swine,  and  he  will  be  sure  to  have  his  com- 
pany. 

A  woman  who  was  bowed  together  for  eighteen  years 
and  could  in  no  wise  lift  up  herself,  is  said  to  have  had 
a  spirit  of  infirmity,  and  to  have  been  bound  of  Satan: 


*  Luke  viii.  2t. 


Lect.  10.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  193 

whence  it  appears,  that  he  is  the  instrument  for  inflict- 
ing unaccountable  diseases.  It  is  his  will  that  none 
should  be  able  to  lift  up  their  minds  to  heavenly  things; 
and  as  a  sign  of  it  he  bows  their  bodies  towards  the 
earth. 

Those  extreme  cases,  in  which  men  raged  and  were 
thrown  about,  and  torn,  and  tormented  of  the  devil, 
were  permitted,  to  shew  us  what  his  inclinations  are 
towards  the  souls  of  all  men  living :  that  he  would  de- 
prive them  of  all  reason ;  disturb  their  imaginations 
with  fancies  of  horror  and  despair ;  inspire  them  with 
cruelty  towards  themselves ;  and  drive  them  from  the 
living  God  into  the  regions  of  the  dead.  Such  are  the 
works  of  Satan  ;  contrary  in  every  respect  to  the  works 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  men,  as  their  nature  now  is,  be- 
ing subject  to  his  power,  exorcism,  or  the  casting  out 
of  the  evil  spirit,  was  admitted  as  a  part  of  the  office  of 
baptism  in  the  primitive  church. 

I  would  desire  you  to  observe  farther,  in  regard  to 
our  present  subject,  that  the  very  same  images  are  used 
in  the  107th  Psalm  as  in  the  miracles  of  Christ,  to  ex- 
press the  redemption  of  men's  souls  from  the  effects  of 
sin  by  the  goodness  of  God.  The  redeemed  of  the 
Lord  are  there  called  upon  to  praise  him  for  gathering 
them  out  of  a  wilderness,  and  satisfying  their  souls 
when  hungry  and  thirsty :  For  breaking  their  bonds 
asunder,  and  delivering  them  out  of  prison,  where  they 
were  bound  in  affliction  and  iron,  and  sat  in  darkness 
and  the  shadow  of  death :  for  healing  them  by  his  word 
when  afflicted  with  sickness  :  for  delivering  them  from 
the  perils  of  the  sea,  and  making  the  storm  a  calm,  so 

25 


194  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         {Lect.  10. 

that  the  waves  thereof  are  still.  All  this  scenery  is 
well  drawn  out,  and  finely  applied,  by  a  devout  and 
elegant  commentator  of  our  own  church,*  who  has 
made  the  book  of  Psalms  more  useful  to  pious  Chris- 
tians, than  it  ever  was  made  since  the  reformation ;  and, 
I  may  add,  before  it.  From  that  Psalm,  as  from  the 
miracles  of  Christ,  we  learn  the  weakness  and  wretch- 
edness of  man,  and  the  goodness  of  God  with  the 
power  of  his  grace.  We  see  the  necessity  of  prayer 
for  the  help  of  God ;  after  the  example  of  those,  who 
cried  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble,  and  were  deliver- 
ed out  of  their  distress. 

No  forms  of  prayer  can  be  more  significant  than 
those  which  are  built  upon  the  miraculous  works  of 
Christ.  These  shew  us  what  our  wants  are,  and  thence 
teach  us  what  we  are  to  pray  for  :  and  when  we  have 
respect  unto  them,  and  the  author  of  them,  we  mix  an 
act  of  faith  with  our  petitions,  which  will  never  fail  to 
render  them  more  acceptable ;  for  we  read,  that  the 
power  of  Christ  took  effect  on  those  only  who  had 
faith  to  be  healed.  There  is  not  a  want  of  man,  nor 
any  occasion  in  life,  on  which  the  miracles  of  Christ 
will  not  supply  us  with  the  finest  matter  of  devotion, 
and  in  some  such  form  as  the  following  with  which  I 
shall  conclude. 

"  O  Son  of  David,  thou  great  physician  of  souls, 
"  who  didst  once  exercise  thy  power  in  the  land  of 
' '  Judea,  and  wentest  about  doing  good :  thou  art  still 

*The  Reforend  Dr.  Home,  Dean  of  Canterbury,  and  Presi- 
dent of  Magdalen  College  in  Oxford. 


Lect.  10.J  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  195 

'  with  us ;  and  hast  promised  so  to  be  unto  the  end 
'  of  the  world.  Have  mercy  upon  us  under  all  the 
'  weaknesses  of  our  nature,  and  succour  us  under  all 
'  oppression  from  evil  men  or  evil  spirits :  deliver  us 
'  from  the  bonds  of  our  sins,  and  give  light  to  us 
1  when  we  sit  in  darkness  :  open  our  eyes,  that  we 
1  may  see  the  things  which  belong  to  our  peace :  give 
1  us  an  ear  to  hear  and  understand  thy  word ;  and  a 
'  tongue  to  praise  and  confess  thee  before  men  :  give 
1  strength  to  our  feeble  hands,  that  they  may  be  Jift- 
1  ed  up  to  thy  name,  and  let  our  knees  be  flexible  and 
'  ready  at  their  devotions :  cleanse  us  from  our  secret 
'  faults,  as  well  as  our  outward  offences :  feed  our 
'  souls  with  the  bread  of  life,  and  let  us  hunger  and 
1  thirst,  that  thou  mayest  satisfy  us.  Be  mindful  of 
1  us,  O  Lord,  in  our  distresses,  when  we  are  tossed 
'  about  upon  the  waves  of  this  troublesome  world  : 
'  and  in  all  our  dangers  of  soul  and  body,  stretch  out 
'  to  save  and  defend  us,  that  right  hand  which  raised 
1  up  thy  disciple  sinking  in  the  mighty  waters.  In 
'  all  things  let  our  faith  be  toward  thee,  and  then  shall 
1  thy  power  and  mercy  be  toward  us  for  deliverance 
'  and  salvation . "     Amen. 


196  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lbct.11. 


LECTURE  XI. 


THE  USES  AND  EFFECTS  OF  THE  SYMBOLICAL  STYLE  OF 
THE  SCRIPTURE. 

NOW  it  hath  been  shewn  what  the  figurative 
language  of  the  holy  scripture  is,  by  an  induction  of 
particulars ;  we  may  proceed  to  speak  with  more  con- 
fidence concerning  the  uses  and  good  effects  of  it. — 
We  now  stand  as  it  were  upon  an  hill,  up  to  which 
our  enquiry  hath  conducted  us,  thence  to  survey  the 
fruitfulness  of  the  holy  land.  We  have  seen  that  the 
law,  in  its  sacrifices  and  services,  had  a  shadow  qj 
good  things  to  come  ;  that  its  history  is  an  allegory  ; 
that  God  used  similitudes  by  his  prophets;  that  Christ 
spake  in  parables  ;  that  the  apostles  preached  the  wis- 
dom of  God  in  a  mystery  ;  in  a  word,  that  the  whole 
dispensation  of  God  towards  man,  is  by  signs,  shadows 
and  figures  of  visible  things.  The  law  of  Moses,  the 
Psalms,  the  Prophets,  the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  and 
most  of  all  the  Revelation  of  St.  John,  use  and  teach 
this  figurative  language :  and  therefore,  in  the  use  and 
i  interpretation  of  it  must  consist  the  wisdom  of  those 
who  are  taught  of  God.  Here  is  the  mind  that  hath 
wisdom,   saith  St.  John,  the  seven  heads  are  seven 


Lect.11.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  197 

mountains,  on  which  the  woman  sitteth  :  Where  the 
word  wisdom  is  applied  to  this  science  of  deciphering 
the  figurative  expressions  in  the  language  of  the  Reve- 
lation. So  at  the  end  of  the  107th  Psalm,  wherein  the 
salvation  of  man's  soul  is  set  forth  under  all  the  forms 
of  deliverance  from  bodily  dangers,  it  is  added,  Whoso 
is  wise  and  will  observe  these  things,  even  they  shall 
understand  the  loving-kindness  oj  the  Lord.  What- 
ever the  form  and  manner  may  be  after  which  the  divine 
wisdom  is  communicated,  it  must  be  the  best :  and 
such  we  shall  find  it  when  we  enquire  how  the  im- 
provement of  man's  mind  is  promoted,  and  all  the 
purposes  of  God's  revelation  answered  by  the  use  of 
this  symbolical  or  figurative  style  of  speaking  from  the 
images  of  things. 

1.  This  method  is  necessary  to  assist  the  mind  in 
its  conceptions,  and  supply  the  natural  defect  in  our 
understandings.  Being  men,  invested  with  an  earthly 
body,  which  hath  a  sense  6f*nothing  but  material 
things,  we  cannot  see  truth  and  reason,  in  themselves, 
as  spirits  do :  these  things  are  of  a  different  nature 
from  our  sight ;  and  therefore  we  are  obliged  to  con- 
ceive them  as  they  are  reflected  to  us  in  the  glass  of 
the  visible  forms,  and  sensible  qualities  of  outward 
things. 

It  is  the  excellence  of  this  mode  of  speaking,  that  it 
is  not  confined  to  the  people  of  any  particular  nation 
or  language ;  but  applies  itself  equally  to  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  and  is  universal.  It  was  not  intend- 
ed for  the  Hebrew  or  the  Egyptian,  the  Jew  or  the 
Greek,  but  for  man  ;  for  that  being  who  is  composed 


198  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  11 

of  a  reasonable  soul  and  a  fleshly  body ;  and  therefore 
it.  obtains  equally  under  the  Patriarchal,  Jewish,  and 
Christian  Dispensation ;  and  is  of  common  benefit  to 
all  ages  and  all  places.  Words  are  changeable ;  lan- 
guage has  been  confounded  :  and  men  in  different 
parts  of  the  world  are  unintelligible  to  one  another  as 
barbarians ;  but  the  visible  works  of  nature  are  not 
subject  to  any  such  confusion ;  they  speak  to  us  now 
the  same  sense  as  they  spoke  to  Adam  in  paradise ; 
when  he  was  the  pupil  of  Heaven,  and  their  language 
will  last  as  long  as  the  world  shall  remain,  without  be- 
ing corrupted. 

Thus,  for  example,  if  we  take  the  word  God,  we 
have  a  sound  which  gives  us  no  idea  ;  and  if  we  trace 
it  through  all  the  languages  of  the  world,  we  find 
nothing  but  arbitrary  sounds,  with  great  variety  of  dia- 
lect and  accent,  all  of  which  still  leave  us  where  we 
began,  and  reach  no  farther  than  the  ear.  But  when 
it  is  said,  God  is  a  smand  a  shield,  then  things  are 
added  to  words,  and  we  understand  that  the  being  sig- 
nified by  the  word  God,  is  bright  and  powerful ;  im- 
measurable in  height,  inaccessible  in  glory ;  the  author 
of  light  to  the  understanding,  the  fountain  of  life  to  the 
soul ;  oar  security  against  all  terror,  our  defence  against 
all  danger.  See  here  the  difference  between  the  lan- 
guage of  words  and  the  language  of  things.  If  an 
image  is  presented  to  the  mind  when  a  sound  is  heard 
by  the  ear,  then  we  begin  to  understand  ;  and  a  single 
object  of  our  sight,  in  a  figurative  acceptation,  gives  us 
a  large  and  instructive  lesson ;  such  as  could  never  be 
conveyed  by  all  the  possible  combinations  of  sounds. 


Lect.  11.J  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  199 

So  again,  when  we  are  told  of  a  being  whose  name  is 
the  Devil,  we  go  to  the  derivation  of  the  term,  and 
find  it  signifies  an  accuser  ;  and  accusation  may  be 
true  or  false.  But,  when  instead  of  the  word,  we  have 
a  serpent,  as  a  figure  of  him,  we  are  aware  of  his  na- 
ture, and  of  our  own  danger.  We  understand  that 
the  devil  is  insidious  and  insinuating  ;  that  his  tongue 
is  double ;  and  his  wounds  poisonous  and  fatal. — 
When  we  are  told  that  he  is  the  prince  of  darkness, 
then  we  find  that  he  promotes  blindness  and  ignorance 
amongst  men,  as  darkness  takes  away  their  sight ;  and 
that  he  is  contrary  to  God,  who  is  light.  When  the 
devil  is  said  to  be  a  lion,  then  we  understand,  that  as 
hunger  makes  the  furious  beast  wander  about  the  de- 
sert in  search  of  prey;  so  the  devil,  with  an  appetite 
to  destroy  and  devour,  is  always  going  to  and  fro  in 
the  earth,  to  watch  and  take  advantage  of  the  ways  of 
men. 

So  plain  is  this  sort  of  teaching,  and  so  effectual, 
that  if  I  were  to  begin  with  the  first  elements  of  in- 
struction to  a  child,  I  think  I  would  teach  this  ideal 
language  in  preference  to  all  the  languages  of  the 
world ;  for  this  is  the  life  and  soul  of  all  the  rest,  and 
the  best  preparation  of  the  mind  for  receiving  the  wis- 
dom of  God,  who  hath  every  where  instructed  us  after 
this  form  ;  which,  while  it  helps  the  understanding, 
has  a  wonderful  power  to  engage  the  attention  and 
please  the  imagination.  Man  from  his  childhood  is 
strangely  delighted  with  pictures;  and  the  passion  lasts 
to  the  end  of  his  life  :  for  when  the  eye  ceases  to  be 
entertained  as  a  child  is,  the  mind  will  have  its  pictures 


200  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  11. 

for  amusement  and  learning :  and  the  wisest  and  great- 
est among  mankind  have  been  captivated  by  them  in 
all  ages. 

As  philosophy  derived  much  of  its  influence  from 
the  powerful  image  of  poetry  in  the  ancient  tragedies 
of  Greece,  so  is  the  religion  of  revelation  greatly  as- 
sisted and  enforced  by  its  figurative  language ;  always 
pertinent  and  instructive ;  and,  on  proper  occasions, 
exceedingly  sublime  and  beautiful. 

The  two  ends  of  poetry,  as  they  are  laid  down  by 
the  greatest  master  in  the  art,  are  to  profit  and  to  de- 
light; to  give  the  best  instruction  under  the  most 
pleasing  form.  The  means  it  uses  for  the  attaining  of 
these  ends,  is  to  inform  the  mind,  by  presenting  to 
the  imagination  those  pictures  and  images  of  truth, 
which  are  to  be  gathered  either  from  created  nature  or 
the  actions  of  men,  and  the  various  scenes  of  animal 
and  social  life.  Philosophy  and  poetry  differ  in  this 
respect :  that  the  one  instructs  by  words,  and  delivers 
its  precepts  literally ;  the  other  by  the  images  of  things : 
and  if  these  images  are  lively  and  proper,  then  the 
mind  is  delighted  with  a  moral  as  the  eye  with  the 
effect  of  a  picture.  Therefore  good  poetry,  under 
proper  restrictions,  is  one  of  the  greatest  and  best 
works  of  human  art ;  and  hath  always  been  accounted 
divine,  as  proceeding  irom  the  assistance  of  heavenly 
beings.  Even  in  the  oratory  of  prose,  the  method  of 
managing  well  an  allusion  or  comparison,  is  of  great 
value,  because  it  is  of  great  effect.  He  is  the  most 
agreeable  speaker,  who  can  open  and  adorn  the  argu- 
ment of  his  discourse  by  some  apt  representation  of 


Lect.  U.\  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  £01 

truth  from  the  nature  of  things.  But  in  religious 
subjects,  where  it  is  of  the  utmost  consequence  that 
men  should  hear  attentively,  and  be  persuaded  effec- 
tually, there  this  manner  is  most  valuable  of  all. 

How  beautiful  is  that  admonition  of  Saint  James, 
from  the  propriety  of  the  imagery  under  which  the 
moral  is  conveyed  !  He  exhorts  to  govern  the  tongue; 
which  though  so  small  a  member  of  the  body,  is  yet 
of  such  great  effect,  that  to  govern  the  tongue  is  to 
govern  the  whole  man.  "  If  any  man  offend  not  in 
word,  the  same  is  a  perfect  man,  and  able  also  to  bri- 
dle the  whole  body.  Behold,  we  put  bits  in  the 
horses  mouths,  that  they  may  obey  us,  and  we  turn 
about  their  whole  body.  Behold  also  the  ships,  which 
though  they  be  so  great,  and  are  driven  of  fierce  winds, 
yet  are  they  turned  about  with  a  very  small  helm, 
whithersoever  the  governor  listeth."  Nothing  upon 
the  subject  can  possibly  exceed  the  eloquence  of  this 
passage  :  and  the  apostle  carries  on  his  discourse  all 
the  way  in  the  same  beautiful  style  of  allusion. 

How  were  the  lowest  among  his  hearers  captivated, 
when  our  Saviour  discoursed  to  them  in  parables ;  ex- 
plaining the  doctrine  of  the  kingdom  of  God  from  the 
scenes  of  nature  which  were  daily  before  their  eyes. 
The  constitution  of  man's  mind  is  still  the  same,  in 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  learned  and  the  ignorant : 
and  the  principle  on  which  it  must  be  engaged  to  re- 
ceive instruction  can  never  alter.  We  are  to  learn 
all  things  by  comparison ;  and  the  salvation  of  our 
souls  depends  so  much  on  our  improvement  under 
this  mode  of  teaching,  that  it  is  wisely  provided  by 

26 


202  0N" THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         JLect.  11. 

the  author  of  our  nature,  that  we  are  so  much  delight- 
ed with  imitation  in  every  shape.  All  the  representa- 
tions of  the  stage,  which  attract  the  multitude,  are 
nothing  but  imitations  of  characters  and  scenes  of 
imagery  :  poetry,  painting,  and  music,  all  engage  the 
fancy  with  imitative  effects  of  art.  Mirth  and  sadness, 
conversation  and  devotion,  the  singing  of  birds  and 
the  confusion  of  a  battle,  are  all  imitable  in  musical 
sounds. 

But  this  great  plan  of  imitation  is  no  where  so  con- 
ducted, nor  carried  to  such  a  height,  as  in  the  signs 
and  allegories  of  the  holy  scripture,  which  compose 
the  richest  scenery  upon  earth.  If  the  fancy  of  man 
is  delighted  with  imitation  even  in  the  smallest  sub- 
jects, how  much  more,  when  the  originals  are  objects 
of  an  eternal  nature,  and  the  delineation  of  them  is  from 
that  wisdom,  to  which  the  things  of  time  and  the  things 
of  eternity  are  equally  known  :  and  which  framed  this 
visible  world  as  a  counterpart  to  the  other. 

Great  is  the  evidence  which  arises  when  these  two 
are  laid  together  and  compared ;  and  I  have  frequent- 
ly found  it  such  by  experience,  when  I  have  tried  the 
force  of  it  upon  minds  to  whom  it  was  new.  If  there 
be  any  difficulty  in  our  creed,  it  is  certainly  much  les- 
sened, if  the  visible  world  presents  to  our  senses  the 
figures  of  those  things  which  God  hath  proposed  to 
our  faith.  To  those  who  understand  it,  all  nature 
speaks  the  same  language  with  revelation  :  what  the 
one  teaches  in  words,  the  other  confirms  by  signs ;  in- 
somuch that  we  may  truly  say,  the  world  is  a  riddle, 
and  Christianity  the  interpretation.    If  Christ  is  called 


Lect.  ll.J  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  203 

the  true  bread,  the  true  light,  the  true  vine,  and  the 
talents  or  gifts  of  God's  grace  are  the  true  riches, 
&c.  then  the  objects  of  sense,  without  this  their  spi- 
rit and  signification,  are  in  themselves  mere  image  and 
delusion ;  and  the  whole  life  of  man  in  this  world  is  but 
a  shadow,  vain  and  empty,  till  the  truth  and  substance 
of  it  is  seen  and  understood. — This  relation  between 
things  visible  and  invisible  we  cculd  never  have  found 
out  of  ourselves,  but  when  the  plan  is  proposed,  it 
is  so  reasonable  and  striking,  that  nothing  can  resist 
it,  but  the  blindness  of  false  learning,  or  the  malignity 
of  vice,  which  has  an  interest  against  it.  In  the  style 
of  the  scripture,  the  several  objects  in  the  visible  crea- 
tion, from  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  through  the  elements 
and  seasons,  the  day  and  the  night,  the  land  and  the 
sea,  the  fowls  of  the  air  and  the  beasts  of  the  field, 
down  to  the  grass  that  springeth  out  of  the  earth,  and 
the  stones  which  are  scattered  upon  the  face  of  it,  do 
all  fell  in  naturally  as  figures  to  explain  and  enforce 
the  things  that  belong  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
to  the  soul  of  man  as  a  part  of  it.  Whosoever  medi- 
tates upon  the  world  thus  applied  as  a  figure  of  truth, 
and  sees  that  agreement  between  truth  and  revelation 
which  revelation  itself  hath  pointed  out  to  us,  will 
want  no  miracle  to  persuade  him  of  the  Christian  doc- 
trines; for  nature  itself  is  Christian,  and  the  world  it- 
self a  daily  miracle  :  the  heavens  speak  to  us5  and  the 
earth  and  all  things  therein  join  in  the  same  testimo- 
ny :  so  that  if  all  nations  were  to  disbelieve,  nature  it- 
self would  still  continue  a  faithful  witness  to  the  truth  : 


204  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         JLect.  11. 

if  the  children  of  Abraham  were  to  hold  their  peace,  the 
stones  would  cry  out. 

Here  we  ought  to  descend  to  particulars,  and  shew 
how  the  state  of  nature  and  the  several  parts  of  it  agree 
with  the  doctrines  of  the  scripture  :  but  there  is  not 
room  for  it  on  the  present  occasion  :  and  I  have  pur- 
posely considered  the  natural  evidence  of  Christianity 
by  itself  in  two  Lectures,  which  open  a  prospect  into 
that  extensive  object,  without  attempting  to  penetrate 
to  the  end  of  it ;  and  to  them  I  must  now  refer  you. 

To  those  advantages  of  the  sacred  style,  I  am  now 
to  add  that  which  is  the  greatest  of  all,  and  will  justify 
the  attention  I  have  bestowed  for  several  years  past 
upon  the  matter  of  these  Lectures ;  namely,  that  the 
spirit  of  those  figures  under  which  the  Bible  delivers 
to  us  the  things  of  God,  has  a  power  of  raising  and 
glorifying,  even  in  this  life,  the  spirit  of  man ;  produc- 
ing an  effect  upon  it,  the  same  in  kind  with  what  it 
shall  hereafter  experience  when  admitted  into  the  pre- 
sence of  God.  This  is  a  great  thing  to  say ;  but  I 
learn  it  of  that  apostle  who  laboured  more  abundantly 
in  opening  to  us  the  wisdom  of  God  from  the  figures 
of  the  Old  Testament.  The  same  was  also  signified 
by  our  Saviour  himself,  in  his  discourses  with  his  dis- 
ciples. 

St.  Paul  teaches  the  Corinthians,  that  it  is  the  pro- 
per business  of  the  Christian  ministry  to  preach  the 
spirit  of  the  law  of  Moses,  and  not  to  rest  in  the  letter 
of  it  as  the  Jews  did ;  whose  weakness  in  this  respect 


Lect.  11.}  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  205 

was  foreshewed  by  what  happened  to  their  fathers ; 
who  could  not  look  stedfastly  on  that  glory  which 
shone  upon  the  face  of  Moses :  for  which  reason 
Moses  put  a  veil  upon  his  face;  which  veil,  saith  the 
apostle,  is  still  upon  their  hearts  in  the  reading  of  the 
Old  Testament.  So  far  was  the  act  of  Moses  fulfilled 
upon  them. 

But  now  with  respect  to  us  Christians,  who  see  the 
glorious  spirit  of  the  New  Testament  under  the  letter 
of  the  old,  we  are  not  like  Moses  when  veiled,  as  the 
Jews  are;  but  like  Moses  when  turned  to  the  Lord  ; 
and  deriving  glory  to  his  own  face  from  beholding  the 
light  of  the  divine  presence.  Just  such  is  the  effect 
of  the  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  on  those  who  are 
converted  and  look  towards  it,  through  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  the  spirit  and  glory  of  the  law :  it  occa- 
sions a  transfiguration  in  man's  nature,  and  derives 
glory  to  it,  like  to  that  which  fell  upon  the  face  of 
Moses  when  he  had  conference  with  God,  and  was 
turned  towards  him.  This  is  the  effect  which  hap- 
pens to  us  according  to  the  sense  of  the  apostle ;  whose 
words,  though  very  obscure  when  taken  independent 
of  the  context,  will  be  easily  understood  after  what 
hath  been  said — "We  all,  with  open  (that  is,  unveiled) 
face,  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are 
changed  into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory, 
even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord;"  or,  as  the  margin 
reads,  by  the  Lord,  who  is  the  spirit  of  the  law,  as 
aforesaid.  Of  all  which  the  sense,  in  brief,  is  this  ; 
there  was  a  glory  on  the  face  of  Moses  underneath  his 
veil,  and  there  is  a  glorious  spirit  under  the  letter  of 


206  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JLect.  11. 

his  law,  which  they  who  behold  stedfastly  are  them- 
selves transfigured  and  glorified  after  the  manner  of 
Moses.  Whoever  beholds  the  glory  of  God  is  him- 
self thereby  glorified,  as  he  who  looks  at  the  sun  is 
shone  upon  by  it.  All  we  can  see  of  God  in  this 
mortal  life  is  in  his  word :  there  that  light  doth  still 
shine  which  illuminated  the  face  of  Moses ;  and  they 
who  behold  it  reflected  as  in  a  glass  from  the  figures 
and  ceremonies  of  his  law,  are  changed  (Gr.  trans- 
figured) into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory  ; 
from  the  glory  of  the  law  which  appeared  in  Moses, 
to  the  glory  of  the  gospel  which  appeared  in  the  trans- 
figuration of  Jesus  Christ.* 

A  sight  of  that  glory  which  is  in  the  spirit  of  the 
law,  is  not  only  our  privilege,  but  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary toward  the  conversion  of  a  natural  man  into  a 
spiritual  one  ;  if  it  doth  not  rather  pre- suppose  such  a 
conversion ;  because  a  natural  man  can  neither  receive 
nor  discern  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  This  was 
the  case  of  the  Jews ;  they  were  not  able  to  see  the  in- 
ward Spirit  of  our  Saviour's  parables  ;  and  so,  instead 


*  Christianis  cum  legitur  (Lex)  thesaurus  est  absconsus  in 
agro — ostendens  sapientiam  Dei — quoniara  in  tantum  homo  di- 
ligens  Deum  proficiet,  ut  etiam  videat  Deum,  et  audiat  sermo- 
nem  ejus,  et  ex  auditu  loquelse  ejus  in  tantum  glorificari,  uti  re- 
liqui  non  possint  intendere  in  faciem  gloriae  ejus,  quemadmodum 
dictum  est  a  Daniele  ;  quoniamintelligentesfulgebunt,  quemad- 
modum claritas  Jirmamenti,  tyc.  Irenaei,  Lib.  4,  c.  48.  Irenseus 
has  here  fallen  upon  the  very  same  idea  with  that  before  us, 
though  he  does  not  collect  it  from  the  same  passage." 


Lect.  11.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  207 

of  being  converted,  they  were  only  condemned  by  it. 
"  Their  ears,  said  he,  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  their 
eyes  they  have  closed ;  lest  at  any  time  they  should 
see  with  their  eyes,  and  should  hear  with  their  ears, 
and  should  understand  with  their  hearts,  and  should 
be  converted,  and  I  should  heal  them."  Hence  we 
see,  that  they  who  have  the  spiritual  sense  which  dis- 
cerns spiritual  things,  may  be  converted  and  healed : 
while  they  who  have  it  not  are  only  hardened  in  their 
unbelief.  Instead  of  improving  they  grow  worse, 
and  are  farther  from  God  than  ever :  "  whosoever  hath 
not,  from  him  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  he  hath  :" 
As  it  was  with  Christ  in  his  parables,  such  to  this  day 
will  be  the  success  of  every  preacher  of  God's  word, 
who  keeps  up  to  his  profession  as  a  minister  of  the 
Spirit :  if  his  hearers  do  not  grow  better  and  become 
spiritually  minded,  they  will  grow  worse  as  the  Jews 
did.  The  Spirit  of  God's  word  which  should  con- 
vert and  heal  them,  will  never  prove  to  be  an  inactive 
indifferent  medicine  :  it  will  either  do  good  or  harm  : 
it  will  make  men  turn  to  God  or  drive  them  farther 
away  from  him  :  which  is  a  serious  and  fearful  con- 
sideration ;  and  I  pray  to  God  you  may  lay  it  to  heart. 
My  only  desire  is  to  do  you  good,  and  I  should  be 
sorry  to  speak  to  the  condemnation  of  any  one  soul 
committed  to  my  charge.  But  you  see  how  the  case 
is :  as  the  benefit  is  great,  so  is  the  danger :  if  there 
should  be  darkness  where  there  ought  to  be  light,  how 
great  will  be  that  darkness ! 

Such  then  is  the  excellence  of  the  sacred  style,  that 
it  is  accommodated  to  our  capacities,  it  delights  our 


208  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE         {Lect.  11. 

imagination,  and  leads  us  into  all  truth  by  the  plea- 
santest  wa)' ;  it  improves  the  natural  world  into  a  wit- 
ness of  our  faith  ;  it  transfigures  us  from  natural  into 
spiritual  men,  and  gives  us  a  foretaste  of  the  glorious 
presence  of  God.  If  these  are  the  effects  of  it,  it  must 
be  of  infinite  value  to  particular  persons  in  their  seve- 
ral studies  and  professions. 

And  first,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  a  Christian 
preacher:  whose  doctrine,  if  it  be  after  the  form  of  the 
scriptural  imagery,  will  be  more  intelligible,  more 
agreeable,  and  more  edifying  to  all  sorts  of  hearers. 
If  this  is  the  method  God  hath  been  pleased  to  prefer 
for  the  teaching  of  man,  it  must  be  the  best  when  one 
man  undertakes  to  teach  another.  We  have  seen  how 
our  Saviour's  preaching  was  in  the  form  of  parables; 
how  the  apostles  in  their  interpretations  of  the  Old 
Testament  apply  it  as  a  figure  and  shadow  of  things  to 
come  ;  and  how,  in  their  exhortations,  they  reason 
from  some  parallel  case  in  the  ways  of  nature.  And 
still  it  will  always  be  found,  that  nothing  has  such  an 
tftect  in  preaching,  as  the  skilful  handling  of  some 
image  or  figure  of  the  scripture.  For  truth,  as  we 
have  often  ohserved,  does  not  enter  into  men's  minds 
in  its  own  abstracted  nature,  but  under  the  vehicle  of 
some  analogy,  which  conveys  a  great  deal  of  sense  in 
very  few  words  :  and  therefore  the  best  preachers  have 
always  taken  advantage  of  some  such  analogy,  after 
the  manner  of  the  scripture  itself,  which  gives  us  the 
pattern  of  all  true  preaching. 

Let  me  shew  you  how  this  is  by  an  example.  Sup- 
pose a  preacher  would  persuade  his  audience  not  to 


Lect.   ll.f  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  209 

abuse  the  station  in  life  to  which  Providence  hath  ap- 
pointed them ;  and  not  to  presume  upon  the  character 
they  may  sustain  amongst  men  for  a  short  time  here 
upon  earth :  he  reasons  from  the  transitory  nature  of 
worldly  things :  and  this  teaches  them  to  see  in  a  glass, 
by  setting  before  them  the  changeable  scenery  and  tem- 
porary disguises  of  men  in  a  theatre.  In  the  world 
at  large,  as  upon  a  stage,  there  is  a  fashion  in  the  char- 
acters and  actions  of  men,  which  passeth  away,  just  as 
the  scenery  changes,  and  the  curtain  drops,  in  a  thea- 
tre ;  to  which  the  apostle  alludes.  The  world  is  a 
great  shew,  which  present  us  various  scenes  and  fantas- 
tic characters ;  princes,  politicians,  warriors,  and  phi- 
losophers ;  the  rich,  the  honourable,  the  learned  and  the 
wise  :  and  with  these,  the  servants  and  the  beggar,  the 
poor,  the  weak,  and  the  despised.  Some  seldom  come 
from  behind  the  scenes ;  others,  adorned  with  honour 
and  power,  and  followed  by  a  shouting  multitude,  and 
fill  the  world  with  the  noise  of  their  actions.  But  in  a 
little  time,  the  scene  turns,  and  all  these  phantoms  dis- 
appear. The  king  of  terrors  clears  the  stage  of  these 
busy  actors,  and  strips  them  of  their  fictitious  orna- 
ments ;  bringing  them  all  to  a  level,  and  sending  them 
down  to  the  grave,  as  all  the  actors  in  a  drama  return 
to  their  private  character  when  the  action  is  over. 

From  this  comparison,  how  easy  and  how  striking  is 
the  moral.  Nothing  but  a  disordered  imagination  can 
tempt  an  actor  on  a  stage  to  take  himself  for  a  king, 
because  he  wears  a  crown,  and  walks  in  purple :  or  to 
complain  of  his  lot,  because  he  follows  this  fictitious 
monarch  in  the  habit  of  a  slave. — Therefore  let  us  all 

27 


210  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  11. 

remember,  that  the  world,  like  the  stage,  changes  no- 
thing in  man  but  his  outward  appearance  :  whatever 
part  he  may  act,  all  distinctions  will  soon  be  dropped 
in  the  grave,  as  the  actor  throws  off  his  disguise  when 
his  part  is  over.  On  which  consideration,  it  is  equally 
unreasonable  in  man,  either  to  presume  or  to  com- 
plain.* 

One  such  moral  lesson  as  this,  which  shews  us  the 
real  state  of  things  under  a  striking  and  familiar  re- 
semblance of  it,  is  worth  volumes  of  dull  abstracted 
reasonings.  It  captivates  the  attention,  and  gives  last- 
ing information  ;  for  when  such  a  comparison  hath 
once  been  drawn  out,  the  instruction  conveyed  by  it 
will  be  revived  as  often  as  the  image  occurs  to  the 
memory. 

To  the  scholar,  the  symbolical  language  of  the  Bible 
is  so  useful,  that  every  candidate  for  literature  will  be 
but  a  shallow  proficient  in  the  wisdom  of  antiquity,  till 
he  works  upon  this  foundation  :  and  for  want  of  it,  I 
have  seen  many  childish  accounts  of  things  from  men 
of  great  figure  among  the  learned.  In  ancient  times, 
sentiments  and  science  were  expressed  by  wise  men 
of  all  professions  under  certain  signs  and  symbols,  of 
which  the  originals  are  mostly  to  be  found  in  the  scrip- 
ture ;  as  being  the  most  ancient  and  authentic  of  all 
the  records  in  the  world,  and  shewing  itself  to  be  such 
in  the  form  of  its  language  and  expression. 

How  nearly  poetry  and  oratory  are  concerned  with 

*See  Dunlop's  Sermons,  vol.  1.  on  1  Cor.  vii.  31.  The 
Fashion  of  this  World  passeth  away. 


Lect.  11.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  21 1 

the  science  of  symbolical  expression,  has  already  been 
observed.  With  this  key,  a  scholar  may  penetrate 
far  into  the  art  of  poets  and  orators ;  and  the  next  thing 
to  composing  well,  is  to  taste  and  judge  well.  But  it 
is  also  of  eminent  use  for  unfolding  the  religious  mys- 
teries of  Heathen  antiquity. 

The  Grecian  and  Roman  mythology  has  been  much 
inquired  into  by  the  learned,  and  is  still  a  great  object 
with  them.     Whoever  considers  the  form  of  religious 
instruction  in  the  church  of  God,  will  plainly  see,  that 
the  mystical  or  mythological  form  among  the  Heathens 
was  derived  from  it,  and  set  up  against  it  as  a  rival. 
It  pleased  God  to  prefigure  the  mysteries  of  our  faith 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world  by  an  emblematic 
ritual :  this  manner  therefore  the  heathens  would  ne- 
cessarily carry  off  with  them  ;  and  when  they  changed 
the  object  of  their  worship,  and  departed  from  the 
Creator  to  the  creature,  they  still  retained  the  mystical 
form,  and  applied  it  to  the  worship  of  the  elements  of 
the  world ;  describing  their  powers  and  operations  un- 
der the  form  of  fable  and  mystery,  and  serving  them 
with  a  multitude  of  emblematic  rites  and  ceremonies. 
Because  the  true  God  taught  his  people  by  mystical 
representation,  they  truly  would  have  their  mysteries 
too :  and  I  take  this  to  be  the  true  origin  of  the  fabu- 
lous style  in  the  Greek  mythology  :  though  it  makes 
a  wretched  figure  in  many  particulars  ;  as  the  woolly- 
headed  negro  savage  does,  when  we  consider  him  as 
a  son  of  Adam  descended  from  paradise.     The  whole 
religion  of  heathenism  was  made  up  of  sacred  tradition 
perverted,  a  customary  ritual,  and  physiological  fable  ; 


212  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Lect.  11. 

but  the  emblematic  manner  prevails  in  every  part 
alike ;  and  therefore  every  scholar  ought  to  be  well  ac- 
quainted with  it. 

Yet  after  all,  it  will  be  found  most  valuable  to  the 
Christian  believer.  The  knowledge  of  human  lan- 
guages prepares  us  for  the  reading  of  human  authors ; 
and  great  part  of  our  life  is  spent  in  acquiring  them. 
But  the  interpretation  of  this  sacred  language  takes  off 
the  seal  from  the  book  of  life,  and  opens  to  man  the 
treasures  of  divine  wisdom,  which  far  exceed  all  other 
learning,  and  will  be  carried  with  us  into  another  world, 
when  the  variety  of  tongues  shall  cease,  and  every  other 
treasure  shall  be  left  behind. 

We  study  some  human  writings,  till  we  are  so  ena- 
moured with  the  spirit  of  them,  that  it  would  be  the 
highest  pleasure  to  see  and  converse  with  the  person, 
of  whose  mind  we  have  such  a  picture  in  his  works. 
Blessed  are  they  who  shall  aspire  to  the  sight  of  God 
on  this  principle  ;  for  their  hope  and  their  affection 
shall  be  gratified.  They  who  now  see  him  by  faith, 
as  he  is  manifested  to  them  in  his  word,  shall  sit  with 
him  in  the  glory  of  his  kingdom  :  and  then  they  will 
know  the  value  of  that  wisdom,  which  has  led  them 
through  the  shadows  and  figures  of  temporal  things, 
to  that  other  world,  where  all  things  are  real  and 
eternal. 


Sop.}  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  213 


THE  SYMBOLICAL  FORM  COMMON  TO  THE  WISDOM  OF 
ANTIQUITY,  PROFANE  AS  WELL  AS  SACRED. 

(A  SUPPLEMENT  TO  THE  LAST  LECTURE.) 

IT  was  observed  in  the  foregoing  Lecture,  that 
in  ancient  times  sentiment  and  science  were  expressed 
by  wise  men  of  all  professions  under  signs  and  symbols. 
I  could  not  pursue  this  observation  in  the  body  of  the 
lecture,  as  being  less  proper  for  the  pulpit.  But  it  is 
pity  we  should  drop  a  matter  of  so  much  curiosity  and 
importance  without  descending  to  some  examples  of 
what  I  there  advanced. 

Whoever  enters  into  the  learning  of  antiquity,  or, 
if  already  learned,  recollects  what  he  has  met  with, 
will  soon  discover,  that  theologians,  moralists,  politi- 
cians, philosophers,  astronomers  ;  all  who  have  made 
any  pretensions  to  wisdom,  have  used  the  language  of 
symbols ;  as  if  the  mind  were  turned  by  nature  to  this 
kind  of  expression,  as  the  tongue  is  to  sounds  :  and 
indeed  this  language  of  signs  is,  properly  speaking, 
the  language  of  the  mind  ;  which  understands  and  rea- 
sons from  the  ideas,  or  images  of  things,  imprinted 
upon  the  imagination. 

All  the  idols  in  the  world,  with  their  several  insig?iia, 
were  originally  emblematic  figures,  expressive  of  the 
lights  of  Heaven  and  the  powers  of  nature.  Apollo 
and  Diana  were  the  sun  and  moon  ;  the  one  a  male, 


214  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JSup. 

the  other  a  female  power,  as  being  the  lesser  and 
weaker  of  the  two.  Both  are  represented  as  shooting 
with  arrows,  because  they  cast  forth  rays  of  light, 
which  pierce  and  penetrate  all  things. 

As  the  objects,  so  the  forms  of  worship  were  sym- 
bolical :  particularly  that  of  dancing  in  circles  to  cele- 
brate the  revolutions  and  retrogradations  of  the  heavenly 
bodies.  It  was  an  ancient  precept,  t^c-km,  ^tip^e^ncT 
"  turn  round  or  move  in  a  circle  when  you  practice 
divine  adoration  ;'•  that  is,  do  as  the  heavenly  bodies 
themselves  do, 

— "  that  move  in  mystic  dance,  not  without  song."  Milt. 

We  find  the  sacred  dance  appointed  and  practised  in 
the  church  :  where  its  true  and  original  intention  was 
probably  to  ascribe  to  the  Creator  the  glory  of  the 
heavenly  motions  :  and  the  idea  might  be  that  of  a  re- 
ligious dance,  in  those  words  of  the  Psalm,  Let  the 
heavens  rejoice,  and  let  the  earth  be  glad:  the  other 
parts  of  the  creation  being  called  upon  to  signify  their 
adoration  by  their  own  proper  motions :  as  the  sea  to 
roar,  the  trees  to  wave,  the  floods  to  clap  their  hands. 
The  figures  by  which  the  constellations  and  signs 
are  distinguished  in  the  heavens,  are  mostly  symbols 
of  such  high  antiquity,  that  we  are  not  able  to  trace 
them  up  to  their  original.  The  accounts  given  of 
them  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  deserve  no  regard ; 
being  childish  and  ridiculous.  In  many  of  these  the 
meaning  is  easy,  because  they  speak  for  themselves. 
The  Bears,  inhabitants  of  the  arctic  regions,  have 
possession  of  the  northern  pole.    The  Ram,  Bull  and 


3  „p.  J  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  215 

Lion,  all  sacred  to  the  solar  light  and  fire,  are  accomo- 
dated to  the  degrees  of  sun's  power  as  it  increases  in 
the  summer  months.  The  Crab,  which  walks  side- 
way  and  backwards,  is  placed  where  the  sun  moves 
parallel  to  the  equator,  and  begins  in  that  sign  to  re- 
cede towards  the  south.  The  Scales  are  placed  at  the 
autumnal  equinox,  where  the  light  and  darkness  are 
equally  balanced:  the  Capricorn,  or  wild  mountain- 
goat,  is  placed  at  the  tropical  point  from  whence  the 
sun  begins  to  climb  upwards  towards  the  north.  The 
ear  of  corn  in  the  hand  of  Virgo  marks  the  season  of 
harvest.  The  precession  of  the  equinoctial  points  has 
now  removed  the  figures  and  the  stars  they  belong  to 
out  of  their  proper  places ;  but  such  was  their  mean- 
ing when  they  were  in  them. 

Royalty  and  government  were  from  the  earliest 
times  distinguished  by  symbolical  insignia.  A  king- 
dom was  always  supposed  to  be  attended  with  power 
and  glory.  The  glory  of  empire  was  signified  by  a 
crown  with  points  resembling  rays  of  light,  and  adorn- 
ed with  orbs,  as  the  heaven  is  studded  with  stars. — 
Sometimes  it  was  signified  by  horns,  which  are  a  na- 
tural crown  to  animals ;  as  we  see  it  in  the  figure  of 
Alexander  upon  some  ancient  coins.  The  power  of 
empire  was  denoted  by  a  rod  or  sceptre.  A  rod  was 
given  to  Moses  for  the  exercising  of  a  miraculous 
power ;  whence  was  derived  the  magical  wand  of  en- 
chanters ;  and  he  is  figured  with  horns  to  denote  the 
glory  which  attended  him  when  he  came  down  from 
the  presence  of  God.  In  the  Illiad  of  Homer,  the 
priest  of  Apollo,  who  comes  to  the  Greeks  to  ransom 


216  ON  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  JSup. 

his  captive  daughter,  is  distinguished  by  a  sceptre  in 
his  hand  and  a  crown  upon  his  head ;  which  is  called 
remix  $eoio,  the  crown  of  the  God,  because  the  glory 
of  the  priest  was  supposed  to  be  derived  from  the  deity 
he  represented.  So  long  as  monarchy  prevailed,  the 
sceptre  of  kings  was  a  single  rod :  but  when  Brutus 
first  formed  a  republic  at  Rome,  he  changed  the  regal 
sceptre  into  a  bundle  of  rods,  or  faggots  of  sticks,  with 
an  ax  in  the  middle,  to  signify  that  the  power  in  this 
case  was  not  derived  from  heaven,  but  from  the  mul- 
titude of  the  people,  as  peers  in  empire ;  who  were 
accordingly  flattered  with  majesty  from  that  time  for- 
ward; till  monarchy  returned,  and  then  they  were  as 
extravagant  the  other  way, 

"  Divisum  iraperiura  cum  Jove  Caesar  habet." 

Virgil  plainly  understands  the  bundle  of  rods  as  the  en- 
sign of  popular  power,  by  opposing  to  it  the  majesty 
of  monarchy. 

Non  populi  fasces,  non  pupura  Regum. 

Georg.  II.  495. 

The  metaphysical  objects  of  the  mind,  such  as  the 
virtues,  the  vices,  the  properties  and  qualities  of  things, 
were  represented  of  old  with  great  ingenuity  for  moral 
instruction.  We  have  a  good  specimen  of  this  kind 
in  the  emblematical  figure  of  Time,  which,  for  any 
thing  we  know,  may  be  almost  as  ancient  as  time  it- 
self. He  was  figured  by  the  artists  of  Greece  as  an 
old  man  running  on  tiptoes,  with  wings  at  his  feet,  a 
razor,  or  a  scythe,  in  his  right  hand,  a  lock  of  hair 


Sup.J  OP  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  217 

on  his  forehead,  and  his  head  bald  behind  :  of  all  which 
particulars  the  signification  is  too  well  known  to  need  a 
comment.  Justice  with  her  sword  and  scales ;  For- 
tune with  her  feet  upon  a  rolling  sphere,  and  her  eyes 
hood- winked ;  Vengeance  with  her  whip ;  Envy  with 
her  snakes  ;  Pleasure  with  her  enchanted  cup  ;  Hope 
with  her  anchor ;  Death  with  his  dart  and  hour-glass  ; 
and  innumerable  others  of  the  same  class,  shew  what 
delight  men  have  always  taken  in  painting  their  ideas, 
after  various  ways  under  the  images  of  visible  forms, 
to  give  substance  and  force  to  their  thoughts :  and 
painters  are  but  indifferently  furnished  for  their  pro- 
fession without  a  competent  knowledge  of  these  things. 
The  poetical  figure  called  prosopopitea,  or  personifica- 
tion^ from  whence  all  these  devices  are  borrowed,  is 
no  where  so  frequently  used,  nor  with  so  much  sub- 
limity, as  in  the  holy  scripture  :  of  which  the  learned 
author  De  Sacra  Poesi  has  selected  many  fine  exam- 
ples. 

The  enigmatical  method  of  Pythagoras  is  well 
known ;  who  was  so  fond  of  teaching  by  signs,  that 
he  made  use  of  the  letter  Y  to  signify  the  two  different 
roads  of  vice  and  virtue,  to  one  of  which  young  men 
give  the  preference,  when  the  age  of  trial  brings  them 
to  the  point  where  the  way  of  life  divides  itself  into 
these  two.  Certain  moral  precepts  are  preserved 
which  are  called  the  symbols  of  Pythagoras.*     He 


*  These  symbols  are  printed  with  Hierocles  on  the  Golden 
Verses,  and  are  commented  upon  by  Gyraldus. 

28 


218  °N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE  {Su*. 

advises  not  to  keep  animals  with  crooked  claws  ;  by 
which  he  means,  that  we  should  not  take  into  our 
houses  and  make  companions  of  persons  who  are  fierce 
and  cruel  in  their  nature ;  such  as  another  author  calls 
e^tx  ct\>fyu7roiMz<pu>  wild  beasts  in  the  shape  of  men. 

The  law  of  the  Hebrews  appointed  the  purity  of 
their  diet  as  a  pattern  and  admonition  to  purity  of  con- 
versation :  after  the  example  of  which  (for  Pythagoras 
was  a  Syrian)  he  bids  us  6vn<r(^xtuy  U7re%e6<x.i,  to  abstain 
from  all  such  as  die  of  themselves.  He  orders,  not 
to  stop  upon  a  journey  to  cut  wood ;  that  is,  not  to 
turn  aside  after  things  impertinent  to  the  end  and  pur- 
pose of  our  life.  Also,  never  to  make  any  libation  to 
the  gods  from  a  vine  which  has  not  been  pruned: 
meaning,  that  no  offering  would  be  acceptable  but  from 
the  fruits  of  a  severe  and  well-ordered  life.  He  pro- 
nounced it  a  base  action  to  wipe  away  sweat  with  a 
sword;  that  is,  to  take  away  by  force  and  violence 
what  another  hath  earned  by  his  labour.  The  literal 
sense  of  which  symbol  will  not  be  understood,  but  by 
those  who  know,  that  the  ancients  used  a  flat  instru- 
ment like  the  blade  of  a  knife,  with  the  edge  of  which 
they  wiped  away  sweat  from  the  skin,  and  cleared  it 
of  the  water,  &c.  after  the  use  of  the  bath.  It  was 
another  of  his  sayings,  that  it  is  a  foolish  action  to  read 
a  poem  to  a  beast,  to  communicate  what  is  excellent 
to  a  stupid  ignorant  person :  which  is  the  same  for 
sense  with  that  figurative  prohibition  in  the  gospel, 
not  to  give  a  holy  thing  to  a  dog,  nor  to  cast  pearls 
before  swine.  To  these  symbols  of  Pythagoras  the 
hieroglyphic  philosophy  of  Egypt  was  nearly  related, 


Sup.J  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  219 

which  Pierius  hath  taken  great  pains  to  interpret ;  and 
also  the  Fables  of  /Esop,  which  teach  prudence  and 
wisdom,  and  shew  the  colours  of  vice  and  virtue,  from 
the  instincts  of  animals. 

Sacraments  and  ceremonies  in  religion  are  signifi- 
cant actions  which  all  nations  and  all  ages  have  ob- 
served in  their  worship  ;  and  the  church  still  retains 
them :  though  these  latter  times  (and  this  unhappy- 
country  in  particular)  have  produced  a  spurious  race 
of  Christians,  who  have  thrown  off  sacraments  and 
ceremonies  all  together  ;  as  if  they  had  consulted  with 
some  evil  spirit  of  a  beggarly  taste.  Priests  and  sing- 
ers in  our  church  wear  a  white  linen  garment  as  a 
sign  of  purity,  and  to  give  them  a  nearer  alliance  to 
the  company  of  heaven.  Chanting  by  responses, 
which  is  of  the  first  ages,  was  intended  to  imitate  the 
choir  of  angels,  which  cry  one  to  another  with  alter- 
nate adoration.  The  primitive  Christians  turned  to- 
wards the  east,  in  their  worship,  to  signify  their  respect 
to  the  true  light  of  the  world.  They  set  up  candles 
in  their  churches  as  a  sign  of  their  illumination  by  the 
gospel :  and  evergreens  are  still  placed  there  at  Christ- 
mas, to  remind  us  that  a  new  and  perpetual  spring  of 
immortality  is  restored  to  us*  even  in  the  middle  of 
winter,  by  the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Cross, 
as  a  sign  of  the  Christian  profession,  hath  been  in  use 
from  the  first  ages  of  the  gospel. 

This  affection  to  symbols  in  religious  worship  may 
be  carried  too  far,  and  degenerate  into  theatrical  scene- 
ry or  even  into  idolatry,  (for  idols  are  no  other  than 
symbols  : )  but  to  cast  them  all  off,  and  strip  religious 


220  0N  THE  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE,  &c.  JSup. 

worship  naked,  is  an  act  of  fanatical  ignorance,  which 
understands  neither  the  sense  of  ceremonies,  nor  the 
nature  of  man  ;  whose  mind,  in  its  present  state,  must 
either  raise  itself  by  the  help  of  sensible  objects  and 
bodily  gestures,  or  be  in  danger  of  sinking  into  sul- 
lenness  and  stupidity. 

Thus  have  the  use  of  symbols  extended  to  all  times, 
and  wisdom  hath  been  communicated  in  this  form  by 
the  teachers  of  every  science  and  profession.  We 
might  wonder  if  it  were  not  so ;  when  God,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world,  taught  man  after  this  form ; 
setting  life  and  death  before  him  under  the  symbols 
of  two  trees ;  and  it  is  both  an  ingenious  and  a  sublime 
sentiment  in  a  certain  author,  that  the  whole  scenery 
of  paradise  was  disposed  into  an  hieroglyphical  school 
for  the  instruction  of  the  first  man ;  and  that  the  same 
plan,  so  far  as  it  could  be,  was  afterwards  transferred 
to  the  tabernacle  and  temple. 


FOUR  LECTURES 

ON    THE 

EPISTLE  OF  ST.  PAUL 

TO  THE 

HEBREWS  = 

SHEWING, 
THE  HARMONY  BETWEEN  THE 

MYSTERIES,  DOCTRINES,  AND  MORALITY 

OP  THE 

OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


LECTURE  I 


ON    THE    CHARACTER    AND    OFFICES    OF    THE     SON    OF    GOD,   AS 
THEY  ARE  SET  FORTH  IN  THE   EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 

WE  read  in  the  24th  chapter  of  St.  Luke's  gos- 
pel, that  as  two  of  the  disciples  were  walking  to  Em- 
maus,  on  the  day  of  Christ's  resurrection,  an  unknown 
person  joined  them  on  the  way,  and  entered  into  dis- 
course with  them.  After  some  questions  had  passed 
between  them,  this  unknown  person  (who  v/as  no 
other  than  Jesus  himself)  began  to  shew  them,  how  all 
the  circumstances,  so  lately  fulfilled  in  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, had  been  foreshewn  in  the  scripture  :  and,  begin- 
ning at  Moses  and  all  the  prophets,  he  expounded  unto 
them  in  all  the  scriptures  the  things  concerning  himself. 
Who  can  read  this  without  wishing  to  have  overheard 
that  expository  discourse,  which,  as  the  disciples  said 
of  it  afterward,  made  their  hearts  burn  within  them  ? 
Such  a  discourse  is  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  to 
those  whose  hearts  are  open  to  understand  it ;  not  con- 
ceived in  the  same  words,  perhaps,  nor  laid  down  ex- 
actly in  the  same  method  ;  but  consisting  of  the  same 
matter,  and  all  tending  to  produce  the  same  effect. 

All  the  doctrine  contained  in  this  epistle  related  to 
one  or  other  of  those  three  heads  ; 


\ 


224>  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  jLect.  1. 

First,  to  the  Person  of  the  Son  of  God,  as  it  had 
been  described  in  the  Old  Testament. 

Secondly,  to  the  Religion  of  the  Gospel,  as  being  the 
same  under  both  Testaments. 

Thirdly,  to  the  Church  of  Israel,  as  a  figure  of  the 
Church  of  Christ. 

Under  the  first  of  these  heads,  I  shall  extract  and 
arrange  the  doctrine  of  the  Old  Testament  relating  to 
the  person  of  the  Son  of  God ;  taking  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  as  my  authority :  wherein  the  apostle  begins 
with  shewing  the  divine  character  of  the  Son  of  God, 
as  distinct  from,  and  superior  to,  the  nature  of  Angels; 
those  invisible  and  exalted  beings,  who  are  between  the 
nature  of  men  and  the  nature  of  God. 

For,  first,  his  name  is  greater  than  theirs ;  it  being 
said  to  him,  never  to  them,  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day 
have  I  begotten  thee.*  And,  secondly,  he  is  an  ob- 
ject of  worship  to  angels — when  he  bringeth  in  his 
first  begotten  into  the  world,  he  saith,f  and  let  all  the 
angels  of  God  worship  him.  And  farther,  he  is  cele- 
brated in  the  Psalms  as  the  King  of  heaven,  and  the 
Creator  of  the  world — Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever 
and  ever — Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning  hast  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  earth,  &c.  these  things  are  said,  as 
the  apostle  witnesses,  to  the  Son  ;  who  being  also  com- 
manded to  set  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  which  was 
never  said  to  any  angel,  his  person  was  not  of  a  cre- 
ated angelic  nature,  as  the  Hebrews  might  suppose, 

*  Chap.  i.  5.  f  Chap.  vi. 


Lect.  l.\  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  225 

who  had  been  used  to  that  term  in  Moses  and  the  pro- 
phets (and  perhaps  took  it  generally  in  such  a  sense,) 
but  strictly  divine,  and  himselftthe  Lord  and  God  of 
men  and  angels,  the  co-assessor  of  the  Father  in  glory 
everlasting. 

Such  indeed  is  the  character  of  the  Son  in  the  He- 
brew scriptures,  that  it  is  the  same  in  all  respects  with 
those  titles  which  the  apostle  subjoins  to  his  name  in 
the  second  verse  of  this  first  chapter  :  whom  (saith  he) 
God  hath  appointed  heir  of  all  things,  by  whom  also 
he  made  the  worlds,  who  being  the  brightness  of  his 
glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person,  and  uphold- 
ing all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power,  when  he  had 
by  himself  purged  our  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  Majesty  on  high.  Great  as  these  expressions 
are,  they  are  the  same  in  substance  with  what  the  Old 
Testament  had  declared  before  concerning  the  Son  of 
God ;  who  being  called  the  Glory  of  God,  has  that  re- 
lation to  him  which  the  light  that  comes  down  from 
heaven  has  to  the  sun,  from  whence  it  proceeds ;  who 
now  sustains  that  world  of  which  he  at  first  laid  the 
foundations  ;  who  purged  the  sins  of  man  by  himself, 
who  was  the  Creator  of  man ;  and  when  he  sat  down 
at  the  right  hand  of  God,  returned  to  that  majesty 
which  was  essential  to  his  character  before  the  world 
was  made. 

Nothing  can  be  more  full  and  express  than  the  lan- 
guage the  apostle  uses  in  this  chapter,  to  convince  the 
Hebrews,  that  the  term  Son  of  God,  as  applied  to  the 
person  of  Christ,  is  not  a  name  of  accommodation,  as 
sometimes  taken  in  other  applications  of  it,  but  a  name, 
29 


226  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lkct.  1. 

the  excellence  of  which  comes  to  him,  not  by  adoption, 
but  by  inheritance,  that  is,  by  a  natural  right,  which 
could  not  be,  unless  the  Son  were  of  the  same  nature 
with  the  Father. 

As  the  aposde  proceeds  to  treat  of  the  person  of 
Christ,  he  takes  occasion  to  shew  from  the  8th  Psalm, 
(and  thereby  teaches  us  how  to  understand  that  Psalm) 
that  he,  who,  as  God,  was  above  all  the  angels  of 
Heaven,  as  man  was  made  lower  than  the  angels,  that 
he  might  taste  of  death  for  every  man,  and  so  bring 
many  sons  unto  glory,  by  receiving  glory  in  our  nature, 
as  the  reward  of  his  sufferings.  In  virtue  of  his  incar- 
nation, we  are  become  the  sons  of  God  and  brethren 
of  Christ ;  as  he  was  in  all  things,  made  like  unto  his 
brethren,  his  brethren  will  in  all  things,  be  made  like 
unto  him ;  that  is,  they  will  be  imputed  by  a  new  re- 
lation to  the  same  Father,  with  a  legal  right  to  the  same 
inheritance,  and  be  crowned  with  glory  and  honour 
after  their  sufferings  upon  earth. 

The  divine  and  human  natures  of  the  Son  of  God 
being  thus  settled  and  distinguished,  we  are  now  to 
consider  him,  with  the  apostle,  under  the  three  cha- 
racters he  took  upon  him  for  the  salvation  of  the 
world. 

1.  As  Moses,  he  was  to  be  a  teacher,  lawgiver  and 
prophet ;  and  Moses  had  acted  as  a  minister  of  God 
for  a  testimony  of  these  things  which  were  to  be  spoken 
after*  by  a  greater  than  Moses. 


Chap.  iii.  5. 


Lect.  tj  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  227 

2.  Like  Aaron  and  Melchizedec  he  was  to  be  a 
high- priest  and  intercessor ;  a  minister  of  the  true 
sanctuary. 

$.  As  Joshua,  whose  name  is  called  Jesus  in  this 
epistle,  he  was  to  be  the  captain  of  our  salvation,  to 
conquer  our  spiritual  enemies,  and  put  us  into  posses- 
sion of  the  heavenly  Canaan. 

From  all  these  figurative  characters  of  the  old  law, 
it  was  foreshewn,  that  he  should  be  the  greatest  of 
prophets,  the  greatest  of  priests,  and  the  greatest  of 
conquerers.  And  first,  he  is  to  be  understood  as  a 
prophet  or  teacher. 

The  apostle  and  high-priest  of  our  profession,  Christ 
Jesus,  was  faithful  to  him  that  appointed  him,  as  also 
Moses  was  faithful  in  all  his  house  .**  to  which  the 
apostle  adds,  that  he  was  thus  faithful  for  a  testimony  ; 
his  ministry  was  prophetical,  and  bore  witness  in  all 
the  principal  circumstances  of  it  to  the  greater  ministry 
of  Christ,  who  was  counted  worthy  of  more  glory  than 
Moses,  because  he  was  the  master  and  builder  of  that 
house,  in  which  Moses  was  no  more  than  a  servant. 
The  fidelity  of  Moses,  under  all  the  various  trials  of 
his  ministry,  is  the  circumstance  here  selected  by  the 
apostle,  and  chiefly  insisted  on  ;  but  there  was  scarcely 
a  circumstance  attending  his  whole  character  which 
did  not  afford  some  testimony  to  the  ministry  of  Christ. 
The  general  character  of  both  is  the  same,  in  that  they 
were  prophets  ;  and  as  the  one  is  said  to  be  mighty  in 


*  Chap.  Hi.  l. 


228  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.1. 

word  and  deed*  so  is  the  other.  The  deeds  of  Moses 
were  great  beyond  those  of  any  other  prophet,  Christ 
excepted.  We  see  him  working  wonders  amongst  a 
proud  and  obstinate  people,  whose  hearts  were  har- 
dened against  him;  as  Christ  wrought  his  miracles 
amongst  the  blinded  Jews,  who  never  believed  on  him 
at  last :  and  as  Egypt  was  at  length  fearfully  judged 
by  the  hand  of  Moses,  so  were  the  Jews  cast  out  and 
destroyed  in  a  terrible  manner,  when  the  time  of  ven- 
geance came  upon  them,  which  Christ  had  threatened. 
As  Moses  left  Pharaoh  in  wrath,  never  to  see  his  face 
any  more  ;  so  Christ  left  the  Jews  at  their  own  desire, 
never  more  to  meet  with  them  but  in  judgment,  when 
Jerusalem  should  be  overthrown. 

In  their  words  they  were  so  far  alike,  that  both  were 
lawgivers,  delivering  to  the  people  the  precepts  which 
were  received  from  Heaven.  All  the  faithful  of  the 
Israelitish  church  were  disciples  of  Moses,  and  did  as 
he  had  commanded  them ;  as  the  faithful  of  the  latter 
days  are  followers  of  Christ,  and  observers  of  his 
laws. 

But  most  remarkable  was  the  fidelity  of  both  these 
teachers,  in  persisting  on  the  part  of  God,  in  opposition 
to  the  powers  of  this  world,  and  the  malice  of  their 
own  people.  When  Moses  was  come  to  years-,  he  re- 
fused to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh'' s  daughter,  choos- 
ing rather  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God, 
than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season.\     As 


*  Comp.  Acts  vii.  22.  with  Luke  xxiv.  19. 
f  Chap.  xi.  24. 


Lect.  1.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  229 

the  one  rejected  the  pleasures  of  Pharaoh's  court,  so 
the  other  withstood  the  solicitations  of  the  ambitious 
Jews,  refusing  to  be  made  a  king,  and  rejecting  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  when  they  were  offered  to  him. 
Each  of  them  exposed  themselves  to  reproach  and 
hatred,  for  maintaining  the  authority  of  God,  asd  act- 
ing in  his  name.  This  is  pointed  out  to  us  in  many 
remarkable  observations  of  the  first  martyr  St.  Stephen, 
in  his  apology  against  the  Jews.  This,  says  he,  is  that 
Moses,  whom  our  fathers  would  not  obey,  but  thrust 
him  from  them.  When  he  first  offered  himself  to  his 
own  people  as  a  deliverer,  they  received  him  not,  but 
affronte^  him  with  that  insolent  question,  Who  made 
thee  a  ruler  and  a  judge  ?  When  he  pleaded  the  cause 
of  God,  all  the  congregation  murmured  at  him,  as  the 
Jews  hated  Christ  for  his  exhortations  to  obedience  : 
corrupt  scribes,  pharisees,  and  chief  priests,  rose  up 
against  him,  as  Moses  was  opposed  and  railed  at  by  a 
self-sanctified  party,  headed  by  Corah,  Dathan,  and 
Abiram.  The  opposition,  therefore,  that  was  raised 
against  Jesus  Christ,  and  all  the  affronts  put  upon  him, 
though  they  might  make  him  seem  little  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Jews,  brought  his  character  to  a  conformity  with 
that  of  their  first  lawgiver,  and  to  their  eternal  confu- 
sion demonstrated  the  truth  of  his  mission.  And  thus 
argues  the  first  martyr,  pressing  the  Jews  with  the  in- 
ference— This  Moses,  whom  they  refused,  saying,  who 
made  thee  a  ruler  and  a  judge,  the  same  did  God  send 
to  be  a  ruler  and  a  deliverer.  Persecuted  as  he  was 
and  despised,  God  sent  him  and  supported  him  :  and 
they  who  have  persecuted  Christ,  have  only  fulfilled 


230  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  1. 

what  the  scriptures  foreshewed  by  the  things  which 
had  happened  to  Moses,  the  first  faithful  minister  of 
God  to  the  children  of  Abraham.  The  church  which 
was  brought  out  of  Egypt,  was  under  his  ceconomy 
in  the  wilderness,  to  be  directed  in  the  way,  and  to  be 
fed  and  supported  as  occasion  required.  The  people 
of  God  are  still  travelling  through  a  wilderness,  with 
the  second  Moses  to  lead  and  support  them  under  all 
the  wants,  temptations  and  dangers  of  their  earthly  pil- 
grimage. By  this  faithful  guide  will  the  house  of  God 
be  governed  and  protected,  till  the  office  of  Moses 
shall  be  superseded  by  that  of  Joshua,  and  he  shall  put 
them  in  possession  of  the  good  land  which  tkfey  have 
now  in  prospect. 

The  second  capacity  in  which  this  epistle  sets  be- 
fore us  the  Son  of  God,  is  that  of  our  great  high- 
priest,  signified  to  us  under  the  figures  of  the  law  by 
the  two  characters  of Melchizedec  and  Aaron. 

It  pleased  God  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  as 
soon  as  the  fall  had  given  occasion  to  such  a  dispensa- 
tion, to  take  from  among  men  some  person  properly 
appointed,  to  make  intercession  for  the  rest;  and 
thereby  to  keep  up  the  expectation  of  a  divine  inter- 
cessor, who  should  make  an  atonement  once  for  all 
by  a  sufficient  and  eternal  sacrifice.  The  first  emi- 
nent example  the  scripture  gives  us  of  such  a  person, 
is  in  the  character  of  Melchizedec,  who,  as  priest  of 
the  most  high  God,  met  Abraham  returning  from  the 
slaughter  of  the  kings,  and  blessed  him  *     His  priest- 

*  Chap.  vii.  1. 


Lect.  1.J  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  231 

hood  was  prior  to  that  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  greater, 
because,  as  the  apostle  argued,  Abraham  shewed  its 
superiority,  by  offering  to  this  priest  the  tenth  of  the 
soils,  and  taking  his  blessing.  From  Abraham  the 
Levitical  priesthood  descended ;  and  the  children  be- 
ing inferior  to  the  father -and  the  father  inferior  to  %L 
this  high-priest,  it  follows  that  the  priesthood  of  the  \^^  *•  \.% 
law  was  inferior  to  the  priesthood  of  Melchizedec.  *  ^W 

From  him  Abraham  received  bread and  wine;  and  the  j^ 

oath  of  God  being  the  great  sanction  of  the  priesthood 
which  administers  this  sacrament,  it  is  thence  evident, 
that  thepriesthood  of  the  gospel,  which  Christ  began, 
and  c^piued  and  perpetuated,  with  its  offering  of 
bread  and  wine,  is  the  only  true  priesthood ;  earlier 
than  the  priesthood  of  the  law  in  time,  and  superior  to 
it  in  dignity.  Thus  after  the  similitude  of  Melchize- 
dec,  there  ariseth  another  priest,  -who  is  made,  not  af- 
ter the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment,  but  after  the 
power  of  an  endless  life.  For  it  appears  by  the  apos- 
tle's reasoning,  that  this  Melchizedec  was  no  human 
person ;  inasmuch  as  he  had  no  human  descent,  and  it 
is  essential  to  this  order,  that  its  priesthood  should  be 
unchangeable*  and  eternal.  Whence  it  must  follow 
that  no  mere  man  could  ever  be  capable  of  the  condi- 
tions of  such  a  priesthood.  There  never  could  be 
more  than  one  priest  of  the  order ;  and  that  priest  is 
Christ  himself ;  who,  before  the  days  of  his  flesh,  exhi- 


•  The  Greek  means  such  a  priesthood  as  doth  not  pass  from 
one  person  to  another;  so  that  there  can  be  but  one  person  of 
that  order. 


£ 


232  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  1. 

bited  to  the  Father  of  the  faithful  that  effectual  priest- 
hood, which  should  save  the  world  ;  aud  made  him  a 
partaker  of  its  benefits.  All  this  doctrine  the  apostle 
has  drawn  out  of  the  short  account  in  the  book  of 
Genesis  concerning  the  person  of  Melchizedec,  and 
the  oath  spoken  of  in  the  ■MLthi  Psalm  relating  to  his 

4'!  a  f*>*    priesthood.  • 

s/v*  In  the  person  of  Aaron  and  the  priesthood  of  the 

a  law,  we  have  another  standing  memorial  of  the  priest- 

hood of  Christ,  which  taught  the  people  under  a  figure, 
that  the  true  priest  should  do,  once  for  all,  what  Aaron 
and  his  successors  did  year  by  year.  That  la^  had  a 
shadow  of  the  good  tilings  that  were  to  co^Jby  the 
gospel ;  and  all  its  ceremonies  and  services  were  ac- 
commodated to  shew  the  necessity  and  the  effects  of  a 
better  priesthood  with  better  sacrifices.  For,  first, 
the  tabernacle  itself  was  a  pattern  of  an  heavenly  ori- 
ginal :  the  directions  given  to  Moses  for  the  construct- 
ing of  it  imply  that  it  was  no  more  than  a  copy  ;  and 
thus  argues  the  apostle.  The  priests,  says  he,  that 
offer  gifts  and  sacrifices  serve  unto  the  example  and 
shadow  of  heavenly  things  ;  as  Moses  was  admonished 
of  God  (or,  according  to  the  Greek,  as  Moses  was 
divinely  informed  of  God)  when  he  was  about  to  make 
the  tabernacle  ;  For,  see,  saith  he,  that  thou  make  all 
things  according  to  the  pattern  shewed  to  thee  in  the 
mount.  The  heavenly  substance  of  which  this  taber- 
nacle was  the  shadow  and  pattern  is  now  exhibited  to 
us  under  the  gospel ;  and  we  may  trace  the  lines  of 
the  true  tabernacle  if  we  attend  to  the  form  of  that 
which  represented  it.    The  first  part  of  the  tabernacle. 


Lect.  1.J  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  233 

in  which  the  daily  ministrations  were  performed,  was 
a  figure  of  this  world,  in  which  temporary  and  mortal 
priests  perform  the  services  of  God.  Beyond  the  vail 
there  was  asother  taberna^  called  the  holiest  of  all, 
or  as  the  Hebrew  speaks^le  Holy  of  Holies.  This 
sacred  place  was  open  onj^^the  high  priest,  who 
entered  into  it  with  the  bloocSRr  the  yearly  sacrifice. 
When  Christ,  by  his  death,  which  rent  the  vail  of  the 
temple,  had  opened  a  way  into  the  heavenly  sanctuary, 
then  was  the  truth  of  this  yearly  service  accomplish- 
ed, and  he  passed  from  officiating  as  a  priest  upon 
eartta^appear  with  the  merits  of  his  blood  for  us  in 
heaveHTbefore  the  presence  of  God.  And  thus  the 
apostle  explains  it ;  Christ  is  not  entered  into  the  holy 
places  made  with  hands,  which  are  the  figures  of  the 
true,  but  into  heaven  itself  now  to  appear  in  the  pre- 
sence of  God  for  us.  In  which  words  it  is  plainly 
implied,  that  he  did  truly,  once  for  all,  what  Aaron 
the  high  priest  did  every  year ;  therefore  what  Aaron 
did  foreshewed  what  he  should  do ;  and  if  so,  the  per- 
son of  Aaron  was  a  figure  of  bis  person.  That  it  was 
no  more  than  a  figure  for  the  time  then  present,  and 
that  Aaron  was  not  the  true  intercessor,  which  the 
people  of  God  were  taught  to  expect,  was  evident  from 
the  repetition  of  his  sacrifices  year  by  year ;  which 
shewed,  that  of  themselves  they  were  ineffectual :  eve- 
ry succeeding  yearly  offering  and  atonement  shewed 
the  inefficacy  of  what  had  gone  before.  Supposing 
they  had  answered  the  end  of  propitiation,  the  apostle 
puts  the  question,  Would  they  not  then  have  ceased  to 
be  offered?  because  that  the  worshippers  once  purged 

30 


234  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  1. 

should  have  had  no  more  conscience  of  sins,*  that  is, 
they  might  have  pleaded  in  the  sight  of  God  the  effect 
of  what  had  passed,  if  it  had  been  effectual ;  but  it 
was  repeated  continually  ;  therefore  it  was  not  effectu- 
al ;  it  was  only  descriptively  exhibitory  of  that  sacri- 
fice, which,  in  the  fulnes^of  time,  should  be  effectual 
to  the  putting  away  o^Hn.  And  this  reminds  us  of 
the  difference  between  the  high  priest  of  the  tabernacle, 
and  the  high  priest  of  the  true  sanctuary ;  that  the 
latter  was  both  priest  and  sacrifice.  And  it  was  neces- 
sary he  should  be  so ;  for  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of 
goats  could  not  take  away  sins :  the  cattle  uporLa^hou- 
sand  hills  could  not  make  an  atonement  for  on^ffiner. 
There  is  indeed  no  visible  relation,  in  the  eye  of  hu- 
man reason,  between  the  death  of  a  sheep,  and  the  par- 
don of  sin :  but  that  Christ,  a  perfect  man,  the  accepted 
and  beloved  Son  of  God,  should  shed  his  blood  to  save 
our  souls ;  in  that  there  is  so  much  sense,  that  it  is 
the  very  wisdom  and  the  power  of  God. 

It  has  been  made  a  question,  by  those  who  question 
every  thing,  whether  sacrifices  were  of  divine  institu- 
tion. But  sacrifices  are  descriptive  ;  and  as  the  thing 
described  is  the  redemption  of  man  by  the  shedding 
of  the  blood  of  Christ,  which  never  could  be  known 
but  by  revelation ;  the  supposition,  that  sacrifice  could 
be  of  human  invention,  is  an  absurdity.  It  is  as  if  we 
were  to  imagine,  that  words  could  be  invented  by  those 
who  had  no  knowledge  of  things ;  or  that  signs  could 


Chap.  x.  2. 


Lect.  L|  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  235 

be  brought  into  use  without  any  prior  idea  of  the 
things  signified.  The  knowledge  of  a  redeemer  was 
first  given  to  man ;  and  the  observation  of  sacrifice 
was  the  expression  of  that  knowledge  by  a  significant 
act.  All  mankind  were  derived  from  these  to  whom 
this  knowledge  was  first  given ;  and  therefore  all  na- 
tions of  the  world  in  all  times?  of  the  world  did  in  some 
form  or  other  retain  the  observation  of  sacrifice,  for 
the  putting  away  of  sin. 

The  third  character  under  which  the  Son  of  God 
was  foreshewn  to  us  under  the  law,  is  that  of  a  con. 
queror.     As  Joshua,  whose  name  is  also  called  Jesus 
in  thVppistle  to  the  Hebrews,  Christ  was  to  become 
the  captain  of  our  salvation  ;  to  subdue  our  spiritual 
enemies,  and  put  us  into  possession  of  the  heavenly 
Canaan.     The  person  of  Joshua,  and  his  acts,  and  the 
effects  of  his  commission,  are  all  descriptive  of  the 
things  to  be  accomplished  by  the  true  Jesus.     He 
was  the  successor  of  Moses,  as  the  gospel  cometh 
after  the  law ;  and  carried  into  effect  what  the  law 
could  not  accomplish,  but  only  exhibited  in  prospect ; 
as  Moses  died  on  mount  Nebo,  with  only  a  distant 
view  of  the  Holy  Land.     After  the  death  of  Moses, 
a  new  generation  of  people,  under  the  command  of 
Joshua,    were   conducted  to   many  signal  victories, 
which  opened   a  way   to  the   promised  inheritance, 
that*  rest  which  was  to  put  a  period  to  their  wan- 
derings  in  the  wilderness.     As  the  Saviour  of  the 
Hebrews,  he  was  honoured  with  that  very  name  which 

*  Chap.  iv.  8. 


236  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  1. 

was  afterwards  given  to  him,  who  came  after  Moses, 
to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Joshua  knew  the  ex- 
cellence of  that  country  to  which  he  was  leading  the 
people,  and  encouraged  them  to  press  forward  to  the 
enjoyment  of  it,  through  all  the  dangers  of  which 
they  were  afraid.  The  land,  says  he,  is  an  exceeding 
good  land:  if  the  Lord  delight  in  us  then  he  -will  bring 
us  into  this  land  and  give  it  us,  a  land  which  jloweth 
with  milk  and  honey — -fear  ye  not  the  people  of  the 
land,  for  they  are  bread  for  us  ;  their  defence  is  de- 
parted from  them,  and  the  Lord  is  with  us.  And  so 
it  came  to  pass ;  the  mighty  inhabitants  of  the  land 
fled  before  them,  and  the  walls  of  Jericho  fel|^own 
flat,  after  the  priests  had  encompassed  it  with  the  ark, 
and  blown  with  the  rams  horns,  as  they  had  been 
commanded.  All  this  was  fulfilled  at  the  wonderful 
propagation  of  the  gospel  under  the  conduct  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  powers  of  the  world  were  all  against  it ; 
but  the  sound  of  the  gospel  from  the  mouths  of  the 
apostles  prevailed  against  them  all.  Weak  and  con- 
temptible as  the  means  might  appear  which  God  had 
appointed,  the  end  was  answered.  Idolatry  was  over- 
powered :  Satan  was  cast  out  of  his  strong  holds,  which 
he  had  so  long  possessed  in  peace ;  and  the  kingdom  of 
the  world  became  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ. 

Here  it  is  a  wonderful  thing  to  consider,  that  the 
Canaanitish  nations,  who  possessed  the  land  promised 
to  the  people  of  God,  were  all  idolators,  or  Gentiles  as 
they  are  called,  such  as  the  Roman  empire  and  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  were  before  the  establishment 
of  Christianity.     This  circumstance  is  taken  notice  of 


Lect.  1.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  237 

and  applied  in  the  apology  of  St.  Stephen  against  the 
Jews.  Our  fathers,  said  he,  had  the  tabernacle  of 
witness  in  the  wilderness — which  also  our  fathers  that 
came  after  brought  in  with  Jesus  into  the  possession 
of  the  Gentiles.  The  tabernacle  of  God  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Gentiles,  and  there  established  under 
Joshua  ;  to  signify  in  a  figure,  that  the  church,  under 
Jesus  Christ,  should  be  transferred  from  the  Jews  to 
the  Gentiles.  The  first  set  of  people  who  came  out 
of  Egypt,  rebelled  against  Moses,  and  refused  to  hear 
the  exhortation  of  Joshua  :  so  they  died  in  their  un- 
belief, and  their  carcases  were  left  in  the  wilderness. 
But  those  who  came  after  (as  St.  Stephen  words  it) 
the  successors  of  that  disobedient  generation,  entered 
with  the  tabernacle  into  the  possession  of  the  Gen- 
tiles ;  as  the  new  children  of  Abraham,  who  came  af- 
ter the  apostate  Jews,  followed  the  true  Jesus,  when 
his  religion  was  translated  into  the  heathen  world. 

The  time  is  yet  to  be  expected,  when  every  power 
of  this  world  and  the  other  shall  fall  before  him.  As 
those  wicked  Canaanites  were  driven  out  of  their  land, 
when  the  measure  of  their  iniquities  was  filled  up  ;  so 
shall  the  wicked  be  driven  out  of  the  earth,  when  that 
vengeance  of  God  shall  overtake  them,  which  they  have 
so  long  held  in  contempt  and  defiance.  The  world 
itself  shall  be  surrounded  by  the  Son  of  God,  as  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation,  and  the  army  of  saints  and 
angels  which  shall  attend  upon  him  at  his  coming. — 
The  last  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  world  shall  be 
overthrown,  as  Jericho  fell  flat,  when  it  had  been  com- 
passed about  seven  days  by  the  priests  and  ministers 


238  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  1 

of  God.  When  the  priests  blew,  as  they  were  com- 
manded, at  the  time  appointed,  and  all  the  people 
shouted  with  a  great  shout,  (Josh.  vi.  5,)  the  fortifica- 
tions of  that  proud  city  sunk  at  once  into  a  heap  of 
ruins.  With  reference  to  which  history,  we  are  re- 
minded that  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  hea- 
ven with  a  shout,  (1  Thess.  iv.  16,)  with  the  voice  of 
the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  oj  God. 

It  pleased  the  wisdom  of  God  to  describe  before- 
hand, in  the  manner  I  have  now  explained  to  you  from 
the  Old  Testament,  the  things  relating  to  the  person 
of  the  Son  of  God,  as  our  Lawgiver,  our  High  Priest, 
and  our  Saviour ;  with  the  works  he  was  to  perform 
for  the  redemption  of  mankind.  Wonder  not  that 
they  were  all  so  particularly  delineated  by  ceremonies, 
signs,  and  miracles.  They  are  so  great  and  important, 
that  had  they  been  written  in  the  firmament  of  heaven 
as  plainly  as  they  are  written  in  the  books  of  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  they  would  have  been  worthy  of  it. 


Lkct.  2.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  239 


LECTURE  II. 

THE  RELIGION    AND  FAITH  OP   THE    PEOPLE   OF  GOD,   THE  SAME 
(IN  SUBSTANCE)  UNDER  BOTH  TESTAMENTS. 

THE  nature  of  man  being  the  same  now  as  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world,  and  the  nature  of  God  be- 
ing unchangeable  ;  it  must  follow,  that  the  great  object 
of  the  dispensations  of  God  to  man  must  be  the  same 
in  every  age  ;  though  the  form  and  manner  after  which 
that  object  is  pursued  may  be  different :  so  that  what 
God  spake  informer  times  to  the  fathers  by  the  pro- 
phets will  be  found  the  same  in  sense  and  effect  with 
what  he  spoke  in  the  last  days  by  his  Son  ;  though  he 
spoke  in  divers  manners,  as  occasion  might  require 
at  sundry  times.  This  is  a  matter  of  the  utmost  con- 
sequence ;  and  it  is  what  I  propose  to  shew  you  in 
the  present  Lecture ;  namely,  that  it  was  the  design  of 
St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  to  teach  them 
that  the  religion  of  the  people  of  God  is,  for  substance 
and  intention,  the  same  under  both  Testaments. 

This  I  shall  prove  from  two  general  reasons,  and 
afterwards  from  some  particular  ones. 

My  first  general  reason  is  this ;  That  religion  has 
the  same  name  under  the  two  dispensations  of  Moses 
and  of  Jesus  Christ :  it  is  called  the  Gospel;  for  the 


240  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  1. 

apostle,  speaking  of  those  who  were  under  the  teaching 
of  God  in  the  wilderness,  says,  unto  us  was  the  Gospel 
preached  as  well  as  unto  them  ;*  making  the  religion, 
delivered  to  us  in  the  New  Testament,  but  a  repeti- 
tion of  what  had  always  been  delivered  to  the  Church. 
The  Gospel  signifies  a  message  from  God  for  the  sal- 
vation of  man :  and  as  such  was  delivered  at  sundry 
times  by  Moses  and  the  prophets.  If  the  word  preach- 
ed  did  not  profit  some,  not  being  mixed  with  faith  in 
them  that  heard  it,  this  is  no  argument  against  the 
sense  or  sufficiency  of  the  word  itself ;  it  only  shews 
us,  that,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  some  there  have  been 
and  will  be,  who  being  carnally  minded,  and  wholly 
attached  to  this  world,  are  destitute  of  that  principle, 
which  the  scripture  calls  by  the  name  of  faith  ;  and 
which,  as  an  universal  test  to  the  servants  of  God,  is 
the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever. 

What  I  here  say  leads  me  to  my  second  general 
reason,  to  prove  That  religion  is  the  same  under  both 
Testaments ;  and  this  is,  that  it  has  the  same  general 
characteristic,  or  mark,  by  which  it  is  to  be  distin- 
guished. If  we  ask,  what  was  the  religion  of  the  Jews, 
who  received  the  law  from  Moses?  The  answer  is 
plain ;  it  was  a  religion  which  believed  things  past, 
and  had  faith  in  things  to  come,  expecting  the  present 
favour  of  God  from  the  observation  of  certain  acts  of 
religious  worship,  as  seeing  him  t/iat  is  invisible.  This 
principle  of  faith  has  been  the  characteristic  of  the 
true  religion  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.     To 

*  Heb.  iv.  2. 


Lect.2.1  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  241 

Adam  the  generation  of  the  world  was  an  article  of 
faith ;  and  the  effects  of  the  tree  of  life  and  the  tree  of 
knowledge  were  no  objects  of  his  sight.  After  the 
Fall,  the  expectation  of  a  Saviour,  the  seed  of  the  -wo- 
man, who  should  bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent,  was 
another  article  of  faith  ;  as  was  also  the  curse  to  be 
executed  upon  the  earth,  which  the  world  in  the  days 
of  Noah  had  neglected  and  forgotten. — There  never 
was  a  time  when  the  true  religion  did  not  believe 
something  past,  and  expect  something  to  come,  and 
conform  itself  to  ordinances,  the  effects  of  which  were 
of  a  spiritual  nature  :  and  it  is  the  trial  of  man  in 
this  life,  whether  he  will  observe  such  ordinances,  and 
depend  upon  them.  Adam's  dependence  was  upon 
the  sacramental  Tree  of  Eden.  The  Patriarchs  and 
Jews  depended  on  the  rights  of  sacrifices  and  purifi- 
cations, imposed  on  them  till  the  times  of  reformation ; 
and  we  are  taught,  by  the  example  of  Abel,  that  a  sa- 
crifice was  accepted  for  the  faith  of  him  that  offered  it. 
Christians  now  depend  on  the  sacraments  of  Baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper.  With  regard  to  the  past, 
they  believe  that  Christ  suffered  for  their  sins ;  and 
arose  from  the  dead  ;  and  with  regard  to  the  future, 
that  he  shall  come  again  to  judge  the  world.  The  re- 
ligion of  the  people  of  God  was,  and  always  will  be, 
a  scheme  of  faith  and  dependence  ;  therefore  it  is  an 
universal  doctrine,  common  to  all  ages,  which  a  pro- 
phet delivered  and  an  apostle  hath  confirmed,  that  the 
just  shall  live  by  faith.*  Let  him  be  as  just  as  he  will, 

*  Chap.  x.  38. 

31 


t>42  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  2. 

his  life  is  not  from  his  justice,  but  from  his  faith;  with- 
out which,  he  has  nothing  of  that  life  which  true  re- 
ligion gives  ;  and  is  dead  in  the  sight  of  God.  To  the 
same  effect,  our  apostle  speaking  of  Enoch,  that  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  the  scripture,  he  pleased 
God  ;*  draws  an  inference  in  favour  of  Enoch's  faith, 
because  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  him.\ 
This  general  principle  of  faith,  while  it  reconciles  and 
unites  the  religion  of  both  Testaments,  serves  to  de- 
tect every  false  religion  that  has  been  or  can  be  in- 
vented ;  because  in  such  there  can  be  no  faith  pro- 
perly so  called ;  in  as  much  as  it  will  either  have  false 
objects,  or  none  at  all. 

In  the  religion  of  the  Gentiles,  there  was  a  sort  of 
faith,  but  it  was  chiefly  directed  to  objects  fabulous 
and  false.  The  Mythology  (by  which  I  mean  the  re- 
ligious mysteries)  of  the  Greeks,  gave  them  a  tradi- 
tionary account  of  the  world's  original ;  of  its  destruc- 
tion by  the  flood  ;  of  a  future  paradise  (called  Elisyum) 
for  the  virtuous;  and  a  place  of  torment  (called  Tara- 
rus)  for  the  punishment  of  departed  souls,  after  a 
formal  trial  and  condemnation  by  the  judges  of  the  in- 
fernal regions :  and  they  preserved  the  institution  of 
sacrifice  :  thereby  confessing  their  dependence  on  in- 
visible powers  for  the  expiation  of  sin.  They  also 
maintained  the  doctrine  of  man's  natural  blindness  and 
impotence  without  the  assistance  and  inspiration  of 
their  deities,  for  which  they  never  failed  to  invoke  them 

*  Gen.  v.  22.  and  Eccles.  xliv.  16. 
f  Cbap.  xi.  6. 


Lect.  2.{  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  243 

in  their  compositions  and  great  undertakings.  Modern 
times  have  been  refining  upon  the  reformation,  till  by 
degrees  they  have  conceived  and  brought  forth  a  sort 
of  philosophical  religion,  distinct  from  every  thing  the 
world  had  seen  before  :  because  it  is  a  religion  without 
faith.  The  scheme  of  our  Deists,  as  they  call  them- 
selves, has  nothing  in  it  of  things  past;  no  fact  or 
tradition  to  ground  themselves  upon :  it  has  no  sa- 
craments, nor  services  of  any  kind,  to  keep  up  an 
intercourse  with  heaven ;  it  expects  no  predicted 
judgment,  and  has  no  particular  view  of  any  thing 
after  this  life.  Thus  having  no  objects  of  faith,  it 
teaches  no  dependence,  which  alone  renders  the  most 
just  man  acceptable  to  God.  It  actually  inculcates 
independence,  and  glories  in  it  :  it  has  neither  church, 
nor  sacraments,  nor  religious  worship,  nor  allegiance, 
nor  submission  to  God  or  man;  and,  therefore,  it 
comes  more  nearly  up  to  the  wishes  of  the  Devil,  the 
great  author  and  first  father  of  independence,  than  any 
religion  ever  professed  in  the  world  before.  If  depen- 
dence upon  God  be  the  characteristic  of  a  religious 
man,  then  it  must  be  better  to  believe  the  labours  of 
Hercules,  the  future  judgment  of  Rhadamanthus,  and 
to  do  sacrifice  to  Jupiter,  than  to  be  of  this  persuasion; 
because  the  worst  religion,  professed  in  natural  igno- 
rance and  sincerity,  must  be  preferable  to  that  proud 
and  incorrigible  ignorance,  which  wilfully  rejects  all 
the  religion  in  the  world. 

From  the  two  general  reasons  I  have  now  given  you, 
it  appears,  that  the  law  and  the  gospel  are  the  same  re- 
ligion under  different  forms :  for  they  have  the  same 


244  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  2. 

name,  and  are  distinguished  by  the  same  character  ; 
that  is,  by  the  great  principle  of  faith,  which  is  essen- 
tial to  both.  To  these  two  general  reasons,  I  shall 
now  subjoin  as  many  particular  ones  as  are  necessary, 
from  the  Epistle  under  our  consideration;  in  all  of 
which  it  is  required  of  me  to  shew,  that  as  the  princi- 
ple of  faith  is  common  to  both  Testaments,  so  the 
articles  of  faith  were  in  general  the  same. 

1.  We  have  seen  already,  that,  the  Son  of  God  had 
been  revealed  to  the  Hebrews  as  the  Creator  of  the 
world,  and  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  in  certain 
passages,  of  which  the  worst  of  the  Jews  did  not  dis- 
pute the  application ,  and  with  all  this,  that  he  should 
yet  be  partaker  qfjlesh  and  blood*  and  in  all  things 
made  like  unto  his  brethren  ;  as  Moses  had  before  de- 
clared in  the  law  ;  The  Lord  thy  God  will  raise  up 
unto  thee  a  prophet  from  the  midst  of  thee,  of  thy 
brethren,  like  unto  me.\  So  particular  is  this  pro- 
phecy, that  it  is  twice  given  in  the  book  of  Deuterono- 
my, and  twice  reasoned  from  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, first  by  St.  Peter,  and  afterwards  by  St.  Stephen, 
in  their  discourses  to  the  Jews.J 

2.  The  necessity  of  mediation  with  God  on  behalf 
of  man,  was  signified  by  the  priesthood  of  the  law; 
to  teach  the  people,  that  prayer  could  not  be  heard,  nor 
sin  prrdoned,  without  a  priest  to  intercede,  and  blood 
to  expiate.  But  then,  that  this  was  only  a  figurative 
priesthood,  a  figurative  intercession,  a  figurative  atone  - 


*  Chap.  ii.  14.  f  Deut.  xvii.  15, 18. 

1  Acts  iii.  22.  and  vii.  27. 


Lect.  2}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  245 

ment,  serving  for  a  time  to  describe  vvhat  should  come 
after,  and  supersede  the  descriptive  services  of  the  law; 
the  apostle  here  proves  from  the  Old  Testament  itself, 
where  a  prophet  pronounces  them  insufficient :  in  burnt- 
offerings  and  sacrifices  for  sin  thou  hast  had  no  plea- 
sure— Then  said  he,  to,  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  0  God. 
He  taketh  away  the  first,  that  he  may  establish  the 
second  ;*  that  is,  he  taketh  away  the  services  of  the 
law,  that  he  may  bring  in  Christ  to  do  the  will  of 
God.  In  the  volume  of  the  book  it  had  been  written 
of  him ;  for  the  book  of  the  law  spoke  this  language 
in  every  part  of  it,  that  Christ  should  come  to  do  the 
will  of  God  for  our  sanctification. 

3.  The  law  shewed,  moreover,  how  this  should  be 
effected  :  for  it  was  dedicated  with  blood,  and  its  pre- 
cepts and  promises  were  called  a  Testament,  that  is, 
a  Will,  such  as  is  made  and  witnessed  amongst  men 
for  the  conveying  and  settling  an  inheritance  in  a  law- 
ful way.  Hence  it  followed,  that  no  service  could 
be  accepted  without  the  offering  of  blood;  and  that  the 
death  of  the  testator  should  intervene,  before  the  pro- 
mises of  God  could  descend  to  his  children.  So  ar- 
gues the  apostle  :  f  for  this  cause  he  is  the  mediator 
of  the  New  Testament ;  that  by  means  of  death,  for 
the  redemption  of  the  transgressions  that  were  under 
the  first  Testament,  (and  could  not  be  purged  away 
by  the  blood  of  animals)  they  which  are  called  might 
receive  the  promise  of  eternal  inheritance.    For  where 


Chap.  x.  6,9.  f  Chap.  ix.  15. 


246  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  2. 

a  testament  is,  there  must  also  of  necessity  be  the  death 
of  the  testator.  For  a  testament  is  of  force  after  men 
are  dead — whereupon,  neither  the  first  Testament  was 
dedicated  without  blood. 

4.  It  was  also  foretold,  that  there  should  be  a  new 
covenant  ;*  not  such  as  was  made  with  the  fathers 
when  they  were  brought  out  of  Egypt,  which  cove- 
nant was  confined  to  a  particular  people ;  but  such  as 
should  comprehend  all  nations,  when  the  spirit  of  the 
divine  law  should  be  written  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and 
all  should  know  the  Lord  from  the  least  to  the  great- 
est. But  the  old  and  the  new  were  both  contained  in 
the  covenant  God  made  with  Abraham  in  the  times 
before  the  law.  In  regard  to  his  natural  posterity  it 
was  said,  Unto  thy  seed  have  I  given  this  land  from 
the  river  of  Egypt  unto  the  great  river,  the  river  Eu- 
phrates :  this  is  a  temporal  promise  :  but  to  the  same 
Abraham  it  was  said,  In  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  be  blessed:  this  is  a  spiritual  promise, 
and  is  the  same  in  all  respects  with  the  Christian  co- 
venant. 

5.  With  regard  to  temporal  things,  the  servants  of 
God  in  all  ages  were  instructed  to  look  upon  the  world, 
and  they  actually  did  look  upon  it,  as  we  do  (or  should 
do)  now.  Upon  a  principle  of  faith  in  God's  promise, 
they  who  were  called  out  of  Egypt  under  Moses,  set 
out  upon  a  progress  toward  a  land  which  they  had 
never  seen,  and  knew  only  by  report;  with  many 


*  Chap.  viii.  8,  &c. 


Lect.  2.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  247 

difficulties  and  terrors  to  encounter  by  the  way ;  so 
that  the  history  of  their  journey  is  an  instructive  pic- 
ture of  all  the  trials  and  dangers  of  the  Christian  life; 
and  when  they  were  settled  in  the  land  of  promise, 
their  business  there  was  not  to  give  themselves  up  to 
the  enjoyment  of  the  world,  but  to  serve  God  in  holi- 
ness and  righteousness,  and  still  to  depend  upon  him 
for  their  support  and  defence  against  their  enemies. 
The  greatest  favourites  of  heaven,  who  had  the  best 
title  to  inherit  the  earth,  considered  this  life  only  as  a 
pilgrimage  toward  a  better.     Abraham  sojourned  in 
the  land  of  promise  as  in  a  strange  country,  where  he 
was  not  at  home,  and  dwelt  in  tabernacles,  to  signify 
that  he  had  no  fixed  habitation  upon  earth,  but  looked 
for  a  city  which  hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and 
maker  is  God.     Jacob  underwent  a  series  of  disap- 
pointments and  sorrows ;  and  toward  the  close  of  his 
life  confessed  that  his  days  had  been  few  and  evil.* 
Moses  preferred  the  reproach  of  Christ  to  the  trea- 
sures of  Egypt ;  and  the  saints  and  prophets,  who 
came  after  him,  were  ready  on  all  occasions  to  renounce 
the  world  in  the  spirit  of  martyrdom  ;  they  suffered 
all  the  contempt  and  persecution  the  world  could  inflict 
upon  them  for  the  trial  of  their  faith,  and  ran  with  pa- 
tience the  race  that  was  set  before  them,  chusing  death 
itself  through  the  hope  of  a  better  resurrection  ;  whence 
the  saints  of  the  law  are  celebrated  and  set  forth  as  ex- 
amples of  faith  and  patience  to  the  saints  of  the  gospel. 


*  See  Chap,  xi, 


248  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  2. 

How  unaccountable  therefore  has  been  the  error  of 
some  modern  divines,  such  as  these  days  of  refine- 
ment have  produced,  who  have  contended  that  the 
law  gave  no  notice  of  a  future  life,  and  that  the  Jews 
were  taught  to  look  for  nothing  under  it  but  temporal 
rewards  :  a  doctrine  so  false  in  itself,  so  injurious  to 
the  word  of  God,  and  so  contrary  to  the  preaching  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  that  it  is  condemned  in  the 
articles  of  the  church  of  England;  the  seventh  of  which 
affirms,  as  it  ought  to  do,  and  as  we  have  sufficiently 
proved  already,  that  "  The  Old  Testament  is  not 
contrary  to  the  New ;  for  both  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  everlasting  life  is  offered  to  mankind  by 
Christ,  who  is  the  only  mediator  between  God  and 
man.  Wherefore  they  are  not  to  be  heard,  which 
feign,  that  the  old  fathers  did  look  only  for  transitory 
promises."  To  shew  that  they  had  a  better  hope,  and 
that  their  faith  was  the  same  as  ours,  though  their 
worship  was  of  a  different  form,  is  the  whole  design 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  where  the  Christian 
doctrines  are  all  deduced  from  the  Old  Testament. — 
Our  Saviour,  in  his  argument  against  the  Sadducees, 
Matt.  xii.  31,  shews  how  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection 
was  taught  in  that  declaration  of  God  to  Moses,  "  1 
am  the  God  of  Abraham,"  &c.  and  the  argument  ex- 
tends to  the  whole  Old  Testament :  for  if  God,  as  the 
God  of  Abraham,  was  the  God  of  the  living,  and  Abra- 
ham still  lives  expecting  the  resurrection  of  the  just ; 
then  the  like  declaration,  wherever  it  occurs,  must 
yield  the  same  doctrine ;  for  that  God  should  be  the 
God  of  the  dead,  is  no  more  consistent  with  his  honour 


Lect.  2.J  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  249 

in  one  part  of  the  scripture  than  in  another.  The  cove- 
nant of  God  is  a  covenant  of  life  *  and  the  argument  is 
of  equal  force  whether  the  relation  is  applied  to  those 
who  are  in  the  world  or  to  those  who  are  out  of  it. 
This  life,  considered  in  itself,  is  no  better  than  death ; 
(vestra  hxc,  qua  dicitur  vita,  mors  est;)  so  that  if  God, 
when  he  called  himself  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  was  the 
God  of  those  who  had  hope  only  in  this  life  (as  a  mo- 
dern divine  asserted  for  a  project)  then  he  was  the  God 
of  the  dead;  and  so  the  name  God  of  the  Hebrews  would 
have  been  a  dishonourable  title,  of  which,  as  the  apos- 
tle observes,  Heb.  xi.  16.  God  would  have  been  asha- 
med, as  a  title  no  better  than  that  of  a  mortal  king, 
whose  power  and  promises  extend  to  this  life  only. 

6.  All  this  is  further  evident,  in  that  the  law  promi- 
sed a  Rest  or  Sabbath  which  it  never  gave  :  and  there- 
fore, the  promise  looked  forward  to  that  other  glorious 
Sabbath  which  is  to  be  fulfilled  in  another  life.  The 
apostle  in  explaining  the  scripture  on  this  subject,  shews 
us  how  the  fulfilling  of  this  promise  was  suspended: 
That  the  faithful  had  a  Sabbath  of  Rest  in  prospect  af- 
ter the  course  of  their  labours,  appears  from  that  threat- 
ening sentence  in  the  law,  which  denied  it  to  those  who 
did  not  believe.  "  For,"  saith  the  apostle,  "  we  which 
have  believed  do  enter  into  Rest,  as  he  said,  as  I  have 
sworn  in  my  wrath  if  they  shall  enter  into  my  Rest :  al- 
though the  works  were  finished  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world."*     Now  the  question  is,  what  the  Rest 


Chap.  iv.  3. 


250  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  2. 

here  spoken  of  can  mean  ?  It  cannot  mean  that  Rest 
which  immediately  followed  the  six  days  of  the  creation 
when  God  did  rest  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his 
ivories  ;  for  that  Rest  of  God  had  been  past  and  gone 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  when  the  works  of 
God  were  finished.  We  must  therefore  look  for  anoth- 
er :  and  in  this  enquiry,  it  may  occur,  that  the  Rest 
to  be  expected  was  in  the  land  of  Canaan ;  because 
those  who  were  precluded  from  it  fell  in  the  wilder- 
ness; according  to  what  is  said* — "  With  whom  was 
he  grieved  forty  years  ?  Was  it  not  with  them  that  had 
sinned,  whose  carcases  fell  in  the  wilderness  ?  And  to 
whom  sware  he  that  they  should  not  enter  into  his  Rest 
but  to  them  that  believed  not  ?  Hence,  I  say,  it  might 
be  imagined,  that  the  settlement  of  the  people  in  Ca- 
naan was  the  Rest  with  which  God  was  to  reward  them. 
But  neither  can  this  be  the  case ;  because  in  the  prophet 
David,  many  ages  afterwards,  he  limiteth  the  promise 
of  this  rest  to  a  certain  day ;  saying,  "  To-day,  after  so 
long  a  time  ;  to-day  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden 
not  your  hearts.f  For  if  Jesus,"  as  the  apostle  argues, 
(that  is,  if  Joshua,  who  is  also  called  Jesus)  "  had  giv- 
en them  Rest  (in  Canaan)  then  would  he  not  afterwards 
have  spoken  of  another  day.  There  remaineth  there- 
fore a  Rest  to  the  people  of  God  :"  that  is,  in  other 
words,  according  to  the  drift  of  the  argument,  the  Rest 
proposed  to  the  people  of  God  always  meant  what  it 


•  Chap.  in.  17,  18.  See  Numb.  xiv.  30.  and  Deut.  xii.  9. 
f  Chap,  iii .  7,  8; 


Lect.  2.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  25 1 

means  now ;  and  that  which  remains  to  us  at  this  day 
after  so  long  a  time,  is  the  same  that  was  promised  to 
the  faithful  of  old.  Consider  the  application  of  the 
term,  and  you  will  see  that  the  apostle's  reasoning  must 
be  true  :  for  it  is  called  the  Rest  of  GW— if  they  shall 
enter  into  My  Rest — and  what  was  that  ?  It  was  un- 
doubtedly a  Rest  in  Heaven,  after  the  works  of  the 
creation  were  finished  upon  earth  :  "  He  that  is  enter- 
ed into  his  rest,  he  also  hath  ceased  from  his  own 
works,  as  God  did  from  his:"  therefore  it  is  a  Rest, 
into  which  no  man  can  enter,  till  his  works  upon  the 
earth  art  finished. — To  those  who  understand  the  lan- 
guage of  the  law,  and  the  apostle's  reasoning  upon  it, 
this  is  a  demonstration,  that  the  law  did  not  rest  in 
temporal  promises.  They  who  lived  in  faith  under 
the  patriarchal  dispensation,  died  in  the  same  faith ; 
death  could  make  no  change  in  their  creed,  because 
they  expected  of  God  what  they  could  never  receive, 
till  their  works  upon  earth  were  finished.  Therefore, 
it  is  truly  said  of  them ;  these  all  died  in  faith,  not 
having  received  the  promises ;  but  having  seen  them 
afar  off,  and  were  persuaded  qj  them,  and  embraced 
them,  and  confessed  that  they  were  strangers  and  pil- 
grims on  the  earth.*  The  land  of  Canaan  was  not  the 
object  of  their  hope  :  it  was  only  a  sign  and  a  pledge 
of  the  goodness  of  God,  an  earnest  of  what  they  were 
to  expect  after  this  life  ;  therefore  they  desired  a  better 
country,  that  is  an  heavenly,  and  their  mortal  life  was 

*Cbap.xi.  13,  &c. 


252  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  2. 

a  pilgrimage  in  quest  of  it.  There  never  was  an  age, 
in  which  it  was  not  required  of  the  children  of  God, 
that  they  should  renounce  the  world,  and  prepare  them- 
selves by  that  discipline  which  should  fit  them  for  a 
better  state.  Such  is  the  language  of  the  scripture  to 
them  all,  under  the  several  names  of  Patriarchs,  Jews, 
or  Christians — My  son,  despise  not  thou  the  chastening 
.  of  the  Lord,  norjaint  when  thou  art  rebuked  of  him  ; 
for  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth 
every  son  whom  he  receiveth.* 

7.  What  I  proposed  to  consider  in  this  lecture  hath 
been  sufficiently  proved ;  namely,  That  the  religion  of 
the  people  of  God  was  the  same  for  substance  under 
the  Old  as  under  the  New  Testament ;  so  that,  in  fact, 
we  find  but  one  true  religion  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  to  the  end  of  it ;  a  religion  of  faith  and  depen- 
dence upon  God,  for  his  protection  here,  and  his  rewards 
hereafter. 

The  apostle  having  taught  us  throughout  the  Epis- 
tfc  that  the  spiritual  things  of  the  gospel,  called  the 
good  things  to  come,  were  described  as  a  body  is  by 
its  shadow,  under  the  priesthood  and  services  of  the 
law  ;  and  that  outward  forms  of  worship  were  ordain- 
ed  to  keep  up  an  inward  principle  of  faith  in  the  pro- 
mises of  God  ;  sums  up  his  whole  doctrine,  by  shew- 
ing us  how  faith  operated,  and  what  effects  it  produced 
in  good  men  from  the  beginning  of  the  world ;  in 
order  to  demonstrate,  by  their  examples,  that  true  re- 
ligion always  was  what  it  now  is  ;  that  Jesus  Christ  is 


*  Chap.  xii.  3. 


Lect.  2.J  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  253 

the  same  yesterday,  to-day ;  and  for  ever  /*  that  the 
faith  and  patience  of  the  gospel  were  nothing  new;  that 
the  whole  revelation  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
is  one  consistent  scheme  for  the  salvation  of  man ;  and 
consequently,  that  Christianity  is  indeed,  as  some  in 
mockery  have  advanced,  as  old  as  the  creation.  This 
is  the  design  of  the  1 1th  chapter,  which  begins  with  a 
definition  of  faith,  as  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for, 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen.  It  is  the  substance 
of  things  hoped  for,  because  nothing  can  be  the  object 
of  our  hope  till  it  has  first  been  the  object  of  our  faith. 
\t  is  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen,  because  they  are 
capable  of  no  other :  the  ear  is  the  witness  of  sounds, 
and  the  eye  is  the  witness  of  visible  objects ;  but  faith 
alone  is  the  faculty  which  discerns  invisible  things,  and 
receives  them  on  the  word  of  God  :  and  if  men  do 
not  with  this  faculty  admit  and  embrace  them,  we  shall 
not  succeed  by  reasoning  with  them.  Spiritual  things 
must  be  received  by  a  spiritual  sense,  which  sense  is 
called  faith,  and  the  scripture  tells  us,  that  all  men 
have  not  faith :  and  where  it  is  not,  all  the  reasoning 
upon  earth  will  not  produce  it;  therefore  let  no  man 
be  so  vain  as  to  think,  that  his  arguments  will  per- 
suade those  whom  God  hath  not  persuaded. 

After  his  description  of  faith,  the  apostle  proceeds 
to  shew  how  it  operated  in  the  saints :  first,  in  Abel, 
who  offered  a  bloody  sacrifice  for  the  remission  of  sins; 
while  Cain  brought  only  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth, 


*  Chap.  xiii.  8, 


254  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  2. 

not  signifying  his  faith  in  the  remission  of  sin  by  the 
shedding  of  innocent  blood.  Enoch  is  said  to  have 
walked  with  God;  which  no  man  can  do  but  by  faith, 
because  God  is  invisible  :  therefore  he  walked  by  faith 
and  not  by  sight.  Noah  believed  that  the  flood  would 
come  upon  the  earth,  when  as  yet  there  was  no  sign 
of  it;  and  that  his  house  might  be  saved,  when  the 
world  should  be  drowned,  by  the  preparing  of  an  ark. 
Abraham  gave  himself  up  to  God's  direction,  and 
went  out  in  search  of  a  land  he  had  never  seen,  and 
did  not  so  much  as  know  the  name  of  it.  He  laid 
Isaac  upon  the  altar  to  be  slain,  though  he  had  no  other 
son  to  inherit  the  promises ;  whence  his  faith  conclud- 
ed, they  would  be  secured  by  his  son's  resurrection. 
Joseph,  when  he  was  dying,  commanded  that  his  bones 
should  be  carried  into  Canaan ;  in  faith  that  the  whole 
nation  would  follow  them;  and  that  the  promises 
would  be  fulfilled  to  him  after  his  death. — Moses  gave 
up  his  project  of  preferment  at  court ;  knowing  that 
the  ministry  of  God  and  the  reproach  of  Christ  would 
be  attended  with  a  better  recompence.  The  fear  of 
God,  whom  he  did  not  see,  had  more  weight  with  him 
than  the  wrath  of  Pharaoh  who  was  present  to  him. 

By  these  and  many  other  like  examples,  it  is  prov- 
ed, that  nothing  great  or  acceptable  to  God  was  ever 
done,  but  only  from  a  sight  of  things  invisible,  and  the 
expectation  of  what  is  to  come  after  death.  It  was  this 
faith  which  subdued  and  cast  out  the  kingdoms  of 
Canaan,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises, 
stopped  the  mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  violence  of 
fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  turned  to 
flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens. 


Lkct.  2.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  255 

There  are  no  motives  to  the  observation  of  a  Chris- 
tian life  more  striking  than  those  which  are  drawn  from 
the  facts  of  the  law.  These  the  Apostle  hath  set  be- 
fore us  abundantly  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  as  I 
may  shew  you  hereafter.  In  the  mean  while,  the  mo- 
ral of  the  whole  doctrine  hitherto  delivered,  is  to  look, 
as  they  did  who  went  before  us,  unto  Jesus  the  author 
and  finisher  of  our  faith  ;  that  seeing  him  to  be  the 
beginning  of  our  strength,  and  the  end  of  our  hope ; 
we  may  follow  him,  through  the  dangers  of  life  and 
the  terrors  of  death,  to  that  rest  which  remaineth  for 
the  people  of  God. 


256  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Leot.  3. 


LECTURE  III 


ON  THE  CHURCH,  AS  A  SPIRITUAL  SOCIETY,  WHICH  IS  THE 
SAME   THING  AT  ALL  TIMES. 

OUR  enquiry  into  the  faith  of  the  ancient  fathers 
shewed  us,  that  there  never  was  more  than  one  true 
religion  in  the  world:  we  shall  now  discover,  that 
there  never  has  been  more  than  one  true  religious  so- 
ciety, called  the  Church:  and  this  I  shall  endeavour 
to  prove, 

First,  by  considering  the  nature  of  the  Church  as  a 
society. 

Secondly,  by  considering  the  form  of  it. 

The  Church,  in  its  nature,  always  was  what  it  now 
is,  a  society  comprehending  the  souls  as  well  as  the  bo- 
dies of  men  ;  and  therefore,  consisting  of  two  parts, 
the  one  spiritual,  answering  to  the  soul,  the  other  out- 
ward, answering  to  the  body.  Hence  some  have  writ- 
ten much  upon  a  visible  Church,  and  an  invisible,  as  if 
they  were  two  things ;  but  they  are  more  properly 
one,  as  the  soul  and  body  make  a  single  person. 

In  the  12th  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
the  Apostle  gives  such  a  description  of  that  society, 


Lect.3.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  257 

into  which  Christians  are  admitted,  as  will  shew  us 
the  nature  of  it.  "  Ye  are  come,  says  he,  unto  Mount 
Sion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heaven- 
ly Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innumerable  company  of  an- 
gels, to  the  general  assembly  and  Church  of  the  first- 
born which  are  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God  the 
Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  per- 
fect ;  and  to  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant, 
and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling  that  speaketh  better 
things  than  that  of  Abel."*  The  terms  here  used 
give  us  a  true  prospect  of  the  Church :  let  us  take 
them  in  their  order.  By  Mount  Sion,  we  are  not  to 
understand  the  place,  but  the  thing  signified,  the  hea- 
venly society  of  God  and  his  saints  ;  the  same  which 
David  in  spirit  calls  the  Hill  of  the  Lord,\  whereto 
the  King  of  Glory  was  to  ascend  ;  and  the  Holy  Hill 
of  Sion,  spoken  of  in  the  2d  Psalm,  on  which  the  Son 
was  to  be  placed,  after  the  vain  opposition  he  should 
meet  with  from  the  Kings  and  Rulers  of  the  earth. — ■ 
This  is  that  Zion  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  to  which 
the  forces  of  the  Gentiles  were  to  flow  from  all  parts 
of  the  world,  as  the  prophet  Isaiah  describes  it ;  %  which 
prophecy  was  not  fulfilled  in  the  literal  Sion  where  the 
Jews  lived. 

This  society  is  also  called  the  City  of  the  living  God, 
distinguished  from  the  cities  of  the  world,  as  Jerusa- 
lem was  from  the  cities  of  the  heathens,  who  dedicated 
their  cities  not  to  the  living  God,  but  to  the  names  of 


Chap.  xii.  22,  &c.  f  Psalm  xxiv.  J  Chap.  Ix. 

33 


258  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  3. 

their  dead  idols;  such  as  were  Beth-Shemesh,  Beth- 
Peor,  and  others  of  that  sort.  This  being  then  the 
city  of  the  living  God,  must  be  an  immortal  society ; 
for  the  living  God  does  not  preside  over  dead  citizens  ; 
he  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  the  God  oj  the  liv- 
ing, and  all  the  members  of  this  society  live  unto  him. 
This  is  the  city,  said  to  have  foundations,  whose  build- 
er and  make?-  is  God;  to  this  the  holy  Patriarchs  look- 
ed, as  the  object  of  their  hope,  knowing,  that  they  were 
even  then  of  it,  and  should  never  be  out  of  it,  because 
the  citizens  of  God  never  die.  It  is  therefore  called 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  because  it  is  of  an  heavenly 
nature  :  and  it  is  called  the  Jerusalem  which  is  above, 
which  is  free,  and  is  the  mother  of  us  all:*  it  is  free 
in  its  nature,  and  cannot  be  brought  into  bondage  by 
the  persecuting  powers  of  this  world ;  and  its  members 
are  free,  because  they  are  spiritual ;  and  spirits  cannot 
be  bound.  It  is  the  mother  of  us  all ;  even  of  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  that  are  admitted  into  it ;  it  gives 
the  new  birth  to  people  of  all  countries ;  it  knows  no 
distinction  of  Jews  or  Christians,  and  its  citizens  may 
live  at  Athens,  Rome,  or  Antioch. 

Its  spiritual  nature  is  farther  declared,  in  that  it  is 
said  to  comprehend  an  innumerable  company  of  an- 
gels ;  the  whole  family  of  heaven  is  included  in  it. — 
The  Apostle  calls  it  the  general  assembly,  because  it 
takes  its  members  from  all  times  and  all  places :  other 
assemblies  are  partial,  composed  of  the  citizens  of  one 


*G*l.iv.  26. 


Lect.  3.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  259 

city,  or  the  people  of  one  nation.  It  is  the  Church  of 
the  jirst-born  written  in  heaven,  because  its  members, 
being  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  inheritance,  are  there- 
fore called  Jirst-born,  to  whom  the  right  of  inheritance 
belongs.  This  is  also  spoken  with  reference  to  that 
custom  of  the  law,  according  to  which  all  the  first- 
born were  to  be  sanctified  unto  the  Lord ;  and  Moses 
was  commanded  to  register  them  all,  and  take  the  num- 
ber of  their  names;*  with  reference  to  which,  the  sons 
of  the  spiritual  society  are  said  to  have  their  names 
written  in  heaven,  where  they  are  registered  in  the 
book  of  life.  The  word  Church  explains  nothing  to 
us  in  English,  but  in  the  Greek  it  signifies  the  com- 
pany of  those  who  are  called  out  of  the  world  to  be 
the  servants  and  citizens  of  God.  Other  societies 
have  their  proper  judges  and  rulers  ;  but  here,  God 
is  the  judge  of  all;  his  law  is  the  rule  of  judgment, 
and  he  rewards  and  punishes  without  fear  or  favour. 
In  the  communion  of  the  church  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect  arc  also  included.  It  is  a  society, 
which  admits  only  the  spirits  of  the  living,  and  as  such 
cannot  exclude  the  spirits  of  the  dead :  and  this  con- 
firms  what  we  said  above,  that  the  Church  is  a  spiri- 
tual community,  comprehending  the  dead  as  well  as 
the  living  :  for  the  best  interpretation  supposes  these 
to  be  the  spirits  of  the  martyrs,  who  had  finished  their 
earthly  course,  and  were  made  perfect  through  suffer- 
ings, after  the  example  of  their  Saviour. 


*  Numb.  iii.  40. 


260  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  3- 

The  Christian  Church  is  here  described  by  the 
old  names,  to  shew  that  it  was  no  new  thing,  but  the 
same  holy  mount  of  God,  the  same  heavenly  city  of 
God,  to  which  the  spiritual  part  of  his  people  always 
belonged ;  and  they  knew  they  did  so,  because  the 
living  God  must  be  the  head  of  a  living  society.  They 
who  Mere  ignorant  of  its  true  nature,  disputed  about 
the  place  where  the  Church  ought  to  be :  the  Sama- 
ritans contended  that  it  was  to  be  on  their  mountain  ; 
the  Jews  said  it  was  to  be  only  at  Jerusalem  :  but,  as 
a  society  of  spirits,  it  is  no  where  and  every  where : 
the  true  worshippers  of  God  are  they  who  worship  him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth  ;*  wherever  these  are,  there  is 
that  Jerusalem,  which  is  the  mother  of  us  all. 

The  Church  being  a  society  of  a  spiritual  kind,  is 
therefore  called  by  the  same  name  in  all  ages  :  Chris- 
tians are  said  to  be  come  unto  Mount  Sion,  and  Moses 
is  said  to  have  been  with  the  Church  in  the  wilderness. 
The  reasonableness  of  which  will  be  farther  evident, 
if  we  consider  the  nature  of  its  vocation ;  it  is  sepa- 
rated from  the  pollutions  of  the  world,  and  called  unto 
holiness  of  life.  Ye  shall  be  holy  unto  me,  said  the 
Lord ;  for  I  the  Lord  am  holy,  and  have  severed  you 
from  other  people,  that  ye  should  be  mine,  f  For  this 
end  the  Hebrews  were  placed  in  a  land  by  themselves, 
that  they  might  not  be  corrupted  with  the  ways  of  the 
Gentiles.  They  had  laws  and  customs  of  their  own, 
all  tending  to  secure  them  from  the  idolatrous  wor- 


*  John  iv.  23.  f  Lev.  xx.  26. 


Lect.  3.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  261 

ship  and  wicked  manners  of  the  heathens.  We 
Christians,  who  now  belong  to  the  Church,  are  in  like 
manner  called  out  of  the  world.  Our  blessed  Saviour, 
speaking  of  the  vocation  of  his  disciples,  saith,  They 
are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world.* 

But  it  is  now  to  be  shewn,  secondly,  That  as  the 
Church  of  God  hath  always  been  the  same  in  its  na- 
ture, it  hath  likewise  preserved  the  same  form  in  its 
external  oeconomy  ;  the  wisdom  of  God  having  so  or- 
dained, that  the  Christian  Church  under  the  gospel 
should  not  depart  from  the  model  of  the  Church  under 
the  law.  For  as  the  congregation  of  Israel  was  divided 
into  twelve  tribes,  under  the  twelve  patriarchs,  so  is 
the  church  of  Christ  founded  on  the  twelve  Apostles, 
who  raised  to  themselves  a  spiritual  seed  amongst  all 
the  nations  of  the  world.  They  all  had  an  equal  right 
to  use  the  style  of  St.  Paul ;  who  speaks  of  his  con- 
verts,  as  of  his  children,  begotten  by  him  to  a  new 
life,  through  the  preaching  of  the  gospel :  so  that  he 
and  all  the  other  Apostles  are  to  be  considered  as  the 
patriarchal  progenitors  of  the  whole  Christian  people. 

In  the  new  Church  we  have  twelve  Apostles,  in  the 
old  twelve  Patriarchs  ;  but  in  the  heavenly,  where  both 
are  united,  we.  find  four- and- twenty  Elders,  seated 
about  the  throne  of  God,  as  it  was  shewn  in  the  spirit 
to  St.  John.  There  the  saints  of  all  ages  look  to  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain  for  the  salvation  of  all.    By  some 


*Johnxvii.  16. 


262  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  3. 

he  was  expected ;  by  others  he  is  commemorated :  to 
those  he  was  the  end  of  the  law  ;  to  these  the  begin- 
ning of  the  gospel ;  but  to  the  general  assembly  of 
them  all,  he  is  the  object  of  their  faith  and  hope,  and 
the  principle  of  all  true  religion  from  the  beginning 
of  die  world  to  the  end  of  it;  the  Redeemer  of  all  times, 
the  Saviour  of  all  nations.  We  have  reason  to  believe, 
that  the  Church,  even  in  its  glorious  and  triumphant 
state,  shall  still  be  conformed  to  its  primitive  division  •> 
for  Christ  assured  his  apostles,  that  when  the  Son  of 
man  should  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory,  they  also 
should  sit  upon  twelve  thrones  judging  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel.* 

Our  Saviour,  in  choosing  the  number  of  those  whom 
he  appointed  to  minister  in  his  Church,  was  pleased  to 
observe  a  strict  conformity  to  the  number  of  rulers  un- 
der the  law.  Besides  his  twelve  apostles,  he  appoint- 
ed other  seventy  also :  the  number  seventy  agrees  to 
that  of  the  Elders,  who  were  appointed  to  assist  Moses 
in  his  ministry.! 

A  farther  examination  will  teach  us,  That  the  priest- 
hood of  the  gospel  was  formed  very  exactly  upon  that 
of  the  law.  Aaron  was  appointed  as  an  high  priest 
for  the  service  of  the  tabernacle ;  under  whom  the 
sons  of  Aaron  constituted  an  inferior  order  of  priests, 
divided  afterwards  under  David  and  Solomon  into 
four-and-twenty  courses,  all  regularly  officiating  in 
their  turns.     Below  these  there  was  the  order  of  the 


•  Matt.  xix.  28.  f  See  Numb.  xi.  1 6,  25. 


Lbct.  3.J  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  263 

Levites,  who  assisted  the  priests  in  all  the  services  of 
the  temple.  There  were  then  three  orders  of  priests 
in  the  Jewish  Church  :  there  was  the  high  priest,  and 
the  sons  of  Aaron,  and  the  Levites.  In  the  Church 
of  Christ  there  was  the  order  of  the  Apostles;  besides 
whom  there  were  the  seventy  disciples  sent  out  after 
them;  and  last  of  all,  the  Deacons  were  ordained,  to 
serve  under  both  in  the  lower  offices  of  the  Church. 
The  same  form  is  still  preserved  in  every  regular 
Church  of  the  world,  which  derives  its  succession  and 
authority  from  the  Church  of  the  Apostles;  after 
whom  the  Bishops  succeeded  by  their  appointment ; 
such  as  Timothy  and  Titus  were  in  their  respective 
Churches.  This  authority  has  been  opposed  in  the 
Christian  as  it  was  in  the  Jewish  Church  :  Corah  and 
his  company  rose  up  against  Moses  and  Aaron,  for 
usurping  a  lordly  authority  over  the  people ;  so,  in  the 
latter  ages  of  the  Christian  Church,  a  levelling  prin- 
ciple hath  prevailed,  which  has  appeared  in  many  dif- 
ferent shapes.  In  some  it  objects  to  the  order  of 
Bishops,  as  an  usurpation  of  long  standing  in  the 
Church  :  in  others,  it  argues  for  an  equality  of  autho- 
rity in  all  Christians,  because  all  the  congregation  is 
holy ;  herein  making  no  distinction  between  holiness 
of  person  and  holiness  of  office. 

Thus  hath  the  authority  of  the  Church  been  trou- 
bled with  arguments  and  objections,  the  same  as  in 
the  times  of  old,  and  proceeding  from  the  same  spirit 
of  rebellious  opposition,  under  the  disguise  of  superior 
sanctity.  It  was  foretold  to  the  church  by  the  Apos- 
tle, that  of  their  own  selves  men  should  arise,  speaking 


Og4  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  3. 

pei'verse  things  to  draw  away  disciples  after  them* 
as  Corah  and  his  company  rose  out  of  the  congrega- 
tion itself,  and  drew  the  people  after  them.  Unless 
it  were  so,  the  Church  of  Christ  would  not  be  con- 
formed, as  it  ought  to  be,  to  the  Church  of  Israel. 
Though  the  case  is  lamentable,  yet  thus  it  must  be : 
it  must  be  that  offences  come :  the  authority  of  the 
priesthood  must  be  opposed,  and  the  Church  must 
be  divided,  if  the  scriptures  are  verified;  but  woe  unto 
them  by  whom  the  offence  cometh. 

The  Church  under  the  gospel  hath  also  been  pro- 
vided for  as  it  was  under  the  law,  by  the  tenths  of  all 
the  fruits  of  the  earth,  set  apart  for  the  maintenance 
of  its  ministers.  The  antiquity  of  this  provision  is  so 
great,  that  we  cannot  trace  it  up  to  its  beginning. 
Abraham  gave  the  tenths  of  the  spoils  to  Melchizedec, 
long  before  the  age  of  Moses ;  and  therefore  the  law 
only  established  what  had  been  instituted  in  the  earliest 
times  of  the  Patriarchs.  The  Christian  Church  fol- 
lowed the  same  rule  in  all  countries,  as  soon  as  it  ob- 
tained a  regular  establishment ;  and  the  apostle  argues 
for  the  propriety  of  it  from  the  law  of  Moses.  "  Do 
ye  not  know,"  said  he,  "that  they  which  minister 
about  holy  things,  live  of  the  things  of  the  temple  ? 
and  they  which  wait  at  the  altar  are  partakers  with  the 
altar?  Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained,  that  they 
which  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel,  "f 
Here  it  is  evidently  intended,  that  the  practice  of  the 


•Acts  xx.  30.  flCor.  ix.  13. 


Lect.  3.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  265 

law  should  be  taken  as  a  precedent  for  the  times  of  the 
gospel ;  and  that  as  it  was  then,  even  so' it  ought  to  be 
now  :  but  the  clergy  then  received  the  tenths,  Sec. 
which  were  consecrated  by  God's  appointment ;  there- 
fore it  is  his  ordinance  that  they  should  receive  the 
same  now  j  otherwise  the  cases  would  not  be  parallel. 
During  the  persecutions  under  which  the  Christian 
Church  suffered  at  its  first  appearance,  its  support  by 
pecuniary  contribution,  and  the  sale  of  private  property 
may  seem  to  have  authorized  a  new  rule,  different 
from  that  of  the  law  of  Moses.  But  we  can  draw  no 
conclusion,  because  of  the  necessity  of  that  time.  In 
regular  times  the  old  rule  will  take  place  :  and  if  the 
Church  should  again  fall  into  distress,  it  must  again 
depend  upon  the  devotions  of  the  congregation. 

There  is  likewise  a  conformity  in  all  the  services 
and  ministrations  of  the  church.  The  law  had  its 
washings  and  purifications,  as  we  have  the  purification 
of  water  baptism.  They  had  the  passover  in  figure,  as 
we  have  it  in  truth  ;  for  Christ  our  passover  is  sacrifi- 
ced for  us  ;  and  we  keep  thai  feast  as  a  memorial  of  our 
redemption,  as  they  commemorated  their  deliverance 
from  Egypt  by  the  offering  of  the  Paschal  Lamb.  He 
was  no  Jew  who  did  not  celebrate  the  Passover ;  and 
he  is  no  Christian  who  neglects  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  As  they  had  manna  in  the  wilderness 
to  support  them,  we  have  the  true  bread  from  heaven 
without  which  we  cannot  pass  through  the  wilderness 
of  this  world  to  the  heavenly  Canaan.  They  added 
their  prayers  to  the  incense  of  the  temple,  as  we  offer 
up  our  prayers  through  the  merits  of  Christ,  whereby 

34 


266  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  SLect.  3. 

they  are  recommended  and  made  acceptable.     There 
was  a  censer  for  incense  within  the  veil,  as  Christ  in- 
tercedes for  us  in  the  presence  of  God.     Let  my  pray- 
er, says  the  Psalmist,  be  set  forth  in  thy  sight  as  the 
incense ;  thereby  shewing  us  what  was  intended  in  that 
part  of  their  service  :  and  when  Zechariah,  the  father  of 
John  the  Baptist,  offered  incense  in  the  temple,  there 
came  a  voice  from  heaven  which  assured  him  that  his 
prayers  were  heard.     As  these  things  have  been  con- 
sidered more  at  large  in  the  4th  and  5th  Lecture  on  the 
figurative  language  of  the  scripture,  k  may  suffice  to 
observe,  that  as  Jesus  Christ  is  called  the  minister  of 
the  true  tabernacle,  all  the  services  of  the  old  tabernacle 
are  verified  under  his  priesthood  ;  so  that  not  one  jot 
or  tittle  of  the  law  is  found  to  fail. 

The  Church  has  also  been  remarkably  conformable 
to  itself  in  its  sufferings.  There  never  was  a  time,  so 
far  as  we  can  learn,  when  the  true  Church  of  God,  with 
its  doctrines  and  institutions  was  not  hated  and  oppo- 
sed by  the  world ;  either  persecuted  and  oppressed  by 
powerful  tyrants,  or  traduced  and  insulted  by  lying  his- 
torians. From  Abel  downwards,  a  restless  worldly 
spirit  of  unbelief  has  contradicted  the  worship  of  the 
true  God,  and  troubled  his  people.  The  Hebrews 
were  held  in  abomination  by  the  Egyptians,  and  treated 
as  slaves  ;  though  the  nation  had  been  saved  from 
famine,  and  its  policy  reformed  and  established  under 
an  Hebrew.  They  plotted  to  extirpate  the  whole  race 
of  them,  by  casting  every  man-child  into  the  river. 
When  the  Church  was  settled  in  Canaan,  all  the  neigh- 
bouring nations  of  idolaters  were  as  thorns  in  their  sides, 


Lbct.  3.\  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  267 

detesting  their  religion,  and  fighting  against  them  at 
every  opportunity.  The  Chaldeans  led  them  into 
captivity,  and  detained  them  for  seventy  years,  with  a 
view  to  make  them  forget  their  religion  ;  the  practice  of 
which  they  also  endeavoured  to  render  impossible  by 
the  demolition  of  their  temple. — Antiochus  murdered 
the  Maccabees,  and  harassed  the  whole  people  on  ac- 
count of  their  faith. 

The  same  spirit,  acting  on  the  same  principle,  af- 
flicted the  Christian  Church  with  ten  bloody  persecu- 
tions ;  and  there  never  was  a  time  when  it  was  not 
misrepresented  by  lying  reports  and  malicious  accu- 
sations. Truth  and  godliness  have  always  been  dis- 
tinguished by  the  world's  ill-will  towards  them  ;  and 
if  there  be  any  particular  Church  now,  which  is  hated 
and  railed  at  more  than  the  rest,  by  Papists  on  one 
side  and  the  Sectaries  on  the  other,  I  will  venture  to 
pronounce  from  this  circumstance  only,  that  wherever 
that  Church  can  be  found,  it  will  prove  to  be,  in  its 
doctrine  and  profession,  the  purest  church  of  Christ 
upon  earth. 

The  authority  and  discipline  of  the  Church  (which 
are  the  last  things  I  shall  speak  of)  have  been  the  same 
in  all  ages,  by  God's  appointment ;  as  being  founded 
on  two  reasons  which  are  of  perpetual  obligation.  The 
Church  having  the  charge  of  the  divine  oracles,  and 
being  the  guardian  of  the  divine  law,  must  have  au_ 
thority  to  preserve  it,  by  punishing  those  who  offend 
against  it ;  and  being  a  society,  or  body  corporate, 
must  always  have  had  (what  is  common  to  all  lawful 
societies)  a  right  of  preserving  itself  by  a  power  over 
its  own  members. 


268  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lsct.  3. 

The  authority  of  office  in  the  Church  always  was, 
and  now  is,  from  God  himself:  no  man  can  take  the 
honour  of  the  priesthood,  but  he  that  is  called  of  God, 
as  was  Aaron :  and  the  person  so  invested  is  account- 
able to  God  for  the  exercise  of  his  authority,  and  not 
to  the  world ;  because  the  object  in  view  is  the  pre- 
servation of  God's  law,  for  the  salvation  of  his  people. 
Therefore,  every  transgression  and  disobedience  re- 
ceived  a  just  recompense  of  reward,*  and,  he  that 
desbised  Moses's  law  died,  without  mercy,  under  two 
or  three  witnesses. f  The  same  power  ( mutatis  mu- 
tandis) was  with  the  Christian  Church  ;  and  they  are 
commanded  by  the  apostle  to  watch  over  their  mem- 
bers, and  look  diligently,  lest  any  man  fail  of  the  grace 
of  God  ;  lest  any  root  of  bitterness  springing  up,  trou- 
ble them,  and  thereby,  many  be  defiled.%  No  society 
can  long  survive  when  its  discipline  is  lost ;  because 
the  manners  of  men,  when  unrestrained,  tend  univer- 
sally to  dissolution.  The  Church  has  undoubtedly, 
as  it  always  had,  a  divine  right  to  preserve  the  faith, 
to  punish  its  own  members  by  censures,  deprivations, 
and  excommunications :  and  exercise  such  discipline 
as  is  necessary  to  prevent  the  gates  of  hell  from  pre- 
vailing against  it. 

\V  hen  we  consider  the  degeneracy  of  the  times, 
and  the  corruption  of  all  orders  of  people;  the  insolence 
of  offenders,  and  the  weakness  of  authority  ;  it  should 
not  make  us  fretful  and  disobedient ;  it  should  only 
dispose  us  to  pray  for  that  blessed  day,  when  the  Church 

*  Heb.  it.  2.  f  Chap.  x.  28.         \  Chap.  xii.  15. 


Lkct.  3.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  269 

of  Christ  shall  be  restored  to  its  purity  against  the 
corruptions,  and  to  its  authority  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  world ;  when  he  who  drove  the  buyers 
and  sellers  out  of  his  temple,  shall  again  purge  his 
Church  of  those  that  disgrace  and  defile  it ;  when  they 
who  have  despised  and  oppressed  it,  as  if  it  had  been 
made  for  them  to  trample  upon,  shall  themselves  lick 
the  dust  with  their  teeth  broken. 

I  have  taken  much  pains  to  explain  the  matter  of 
this  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  because  it  connects  the 
Old  and  New  Testament,  and  gives  light  to  both.  It 
rectifies  many  mistakes  of  superficial  Christians,  who 
suppose  that  Christianity  was  a  new  thing  when  it  was 
preached  by  the  apostles,  because  Christ  was  then 
newly  come  in  the  flesh  ;  whereas  it  was  only  the  per- 
fection of  that  doctrine,  and  that  Church,  which  had 
subsisted  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  Hence 
also  we  learn  the  infinite  importance  of  the  sacraments 
and  institutions  of  the  Church,  of  which  many  Chris- 
tians in  these  days  have  a  poor  low  understanding. — 
The  confusion  which  followed  upon  the  reformation 
brought  many  to  a  deplorable  state  of  ignorance;  out 
of  which  they  cannot  be  recovered,  but  by  following 
that  admonition  of  the  prophet — Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
stand  ye  in  the  ways  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  old  paths, 
where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk  therein,  and  ye  shall 
find  rest  for  your  souls.* 


*  Jer.  vi.  16. 


270  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  4. 


LECTURE  IV. 


THE  MORAL  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINES,  AS  STATED 
IN  THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 

THIS  Epistle  doth  not  only  shew  us  the  harmo- 
ny of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  and  explain  the 
great  doctrine  of  faith  with  all  the  depth  of  divine 
learning;  but  it  gives  us  the  best  precepts,  and  the 
weightiest  reasons,  for  a  godly  and  Christian  life ;  which 
all  who  study  this  part  of  the  scripture  should  lay  up 
in  their  hearts  ;  that  they  may  be  doers  of  the  word  and 
not  hearers  only.  These  precepts  and  reasons  I  shall 
therefore  collect  and  enforce  to  your  consideration,  as 
they  occur  to  us  in  the  course  of  the  Epistle. 

The  Apostle  having  described  the  dignity  of  the 
Son  of  God,  thus  argues  ;  that  if  he  was  so  great,  how 
important  must  that  way  of  salvation  be,  which  he 
preached  to  the  world  ?  How  necessary  must  it  be  for 
us  to  attend  to  it  ?  And  how  dreadful  will  the  conse- 
quences be  if  we  do  not  ?  If  the  law  of  Moses,  pub- 
lished by  inferior  ministers,  was  so  strictly  enforced, 
and  every  offence  against  the  honour  of  it  so  severely 
punished ;  how  shall  we  escape  if  wc  neglect  the  great 
salvation  published  by  Jesus  Christ?  This  is  the  pur- 


Lect.4.J  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  271 

port  of  his  reasoning;  and  now  let  us  consider  the 
weight  of  it.  If  God  descends  from  heaven  to  teach, 
there  must  be  some  great  reason  for  his  coming,  which 
will  render  those  exceedingly  guilty  who  do  not  hear 
him.  Therefore  it  must  be  our  duty  to  listen  to  his 
words,  and  study  his  doctrine,  that  we  may  understand 
it,  and  receive  the  benefit  of  it  for  the  salvation  of  our 
souls.  We  may  put  this  off  as  a  matter  of  no  conse- 
quence, and  escape  for  the  present.  The  man  who 
tells  us  of  these  things  out  of  a  pulpit,  has  no  power 
to  punish  us ;  but  nevertheless  God  will  not  be  neg- 
lected :  he  who  vindicated  his  law,  shail  vindicate  his 
gospel ;  and  then  what  will  become  of  us  ?  what  shall 
we  say  for  ourselves  in  that  dreadful  day,  when  the 
reasonings  and  reserves  of  every  heart  shall  be  expos- 
ed and  confuted  ?  If  the  question  is  demanded  of  us, 
how  it  came  to  pass  that  we  were  so  ignorant  of  the 
gospel,  and  so  inattentive  to  its  instruction  ;  shall  we 
answer,  that  we  were  too  busy  ?  What  greater  busi- 
ness can  any  man  find  in  this  vain  world,  than  to  pro- 
vide for  the  saving  of  his  soul  ?  If  his  business  could 
bring  the  whole  world  into  his  possession,  what  good 
would  that  do  him?  The  man  that  had  the  whole 
world  for  his  own,  would  probably  be  the  greatest  fool 
in  it ;  and  care  or  pleasure  would  soon  destroy  him. 
Yet  they  who  can  get  but  a  very  small  part  of  the 
world,  and  must  soon  lose  even  that,  make  their  bu- 
siness an  excuse,  and  have  no  time  to  bestow  upon 
their  everlasting  interest. 

The  importance  of  the  salvation  spoken  of  in  the 
text  is  farther  shewn,  by  the  manner  in  which  it  was 


272  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  4. 

recommended  to  the  world.     It  was  attested  by  signs 
and  wonders  and  divers  miracles,  and  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  all  intended  to  raise  the  attention  of  mankind, 
and  convince  them  that  they  must  be  lost  if  they  neg- 
lected to  hear  what  was  so  powerfully  recommended. 
Add  to  all  this,  the  amiable,  as  well  as  the  excellent, 
character  of  its  great  Preacher ;  whose  life  was  spent 
in  teaching ;  whose  only  business  in  the  world  was  to 
save  those,  many  of  whom  are  too  busy  to  hear  him. 
He  condescended  to  the  ignorance  of  the  poor ;  was 
compassionate  to  sinners ;  argued  patiently  with  the 
perverse  and  obstinate ;  and  accommodated  himself  to 
the  wants  of  all.     At  last  he  tasted  death  for  every 
man ;  for  you  that  hear,  and  me  that  speak ;  and  by 
his  exaltation  after  his  sufferings  hath  shewed  us  the 
encouragement  we  have,  and  the  reward  we  shall  re- 
ceive, if  we  follow  his  example.     Nothing  but  hard- 
ness of  heart  can  hinder  us  from  partaking  of  the  bene- 
fits of  our  heavenly  calling ;  as  it  hindered  the  people 
in  the  wilderness  from  reaching  the  promised  land. 
We  are  therefore  to  take  heed,  as  the  Apostle  fore- 
warns us,  lest  there  be  many  of  us  an  evil  heart  of  un- 
belief in  departing  from  the  living  God.    This  Egypt, 
this  wicked  world,  in  which  we  live,  must  not  with- 
draw our  affections,  and  put  us  out  of  humour  with  the 
manner  and  the  way  of  trial,  by  which  God  shall  be 
pleased  to  carry  us  forward  in  our  progress  through 
this  wilderness.     And  we  are  to  exhort  one  another 
against  the  deceitfulness  of  si?t.*    We  can  see  how 

*  Heb.  iii.  13. 


Lbct.  4.J  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  273 

grossly  the  disobedient  Israelites  were  deceived,  in  pre- 
ferring Egypt  to  Canaan  ;  and  we  wonder  at  them,  that 
they  should  be  so  perverse  and  brutish :  let  us  then 
not  be  cheated  as  they  were.  How  did  it  happen  that 
they  were  beguiled  of  their  inheritance?  They  did 
not  believe  the  promises  of  God ;  and  if  we  are  de- 
ceived, it  must  be  for  the  same  reason.  The  Rest  of 
Canaan  was  better  than  the  bondage  of  Egypt ;  and 
the  service  of  God  is  better  to  us  now  than  the  bon- 
dage of  sin ;  which  can  only  interrupt  the  happiness 
of  the  servants  of  God,  and  fill  them  with  disappoint- 
ment and  bitterness.  Miserable  is  the  situation  of  a 
Christian  who  does  not  look  forward,  and  press  for- 
ward, to  the  promised  Rest.  He  has  left  Egypt ;  and 
there  is  no  better  entertainment  in  this  wilderness,  than 
the  hope  of  getting  well  out  of  it.  But  if,  instead  of 
this,  he  is  only  looking  back  and  wishing  for  the  world 
which  he  has  renounced ;  he  is  that  double-minded 
man,  who  is  unstable  in  all  his  ways  ;  neither  a  man  of 
the  world,  nor  a  Christian ;  neither  easy  with  God  nor 
without  him. — There  cannot  be  a  more  unprofitable 
and  unhappy  character.  It  is  said  of  the  Israelites  in 
the  wilderness,  that  their  heart  was  not  whole  with 
God,  neither  continued  they  stedfast  in  his  covenant. 
How  many  fall  under  the  same  censure !  they  give  a 
portion  of  their  heart  to  God,  and  another  much  greater 
to  the  world. 

When  the  apostle  is  entering  upon  the  more  mys- 
terious parts  of  this  Epistle,  he  upbraids  the  Hebrews 
with  their  unskilfulness  in  the  word  of  God.  They 
contented  themselves  with  the  first  elements  of  Chris- 

35 


s>74  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  4. 

tian  instruction,  and  neglected  the  mysteries  of  the 
scriptures ;  living,  as  children  do,  upon  milk,  with 
little  appetite  and  strength  to  admit  more  solid  nourish- 
ment.* Some  think  they  are  learned  enough,  if  they 
never  get  beyond  their  catechism :  some  never  get  so 
far.  And  it  is  common  to  plead  in  excuse,  that,  little 
as  their  knowledge  is,  they  know  more  good  than  they 
do,  and  have  already  more  learning  than  they  practise: 
not  considering  that  the  scripture  abounds  with  many 
great  and  excellent  mysteries,  which  have  nothing 
practical  in  them,  but  so  far  only  as  they  elevate  the 
mind,  and,  bringing  our  affections  nearer  to  God,  dis- 
pose us  to  do  his  will  with  more  love  and  cheerful- 
ness ;  and  consequently  to  do  more  of  it,  and  to  better 
effect :  which  is  a  matter  of  infinite  importance,  and 
now  too  little  attended  to.  The  Christian  must  be  pro- 
gressive ;  he  must  go  on  from  the  beginning  of  know- 
ledge to  the  perfection^  of  it.  He  ought  to  know  more 
of  God  every  day  ;  otherwise  he  may  think  of  him  less, 
till  he  totally  forgets  him  :  and  then  he  is  in  danger  of 
falling  into  that  state,  out  of  which  men  cannot  be  re- 
newed unto  repentance.  When  the  gospel,  which  a 
man  had  received,  has  not  power  to  lead  him  forward, 
there  is  no  riew  gospel  to  awaken  him :  when  the  most 
powerful  medicine  God  ever  made  hath  lost  its  effect, 
what  other  can  we  apply  ? 

So  long  as  the  soul  is  in  a  growing  state,  the  bless- 
ing of  heaven  continues  with  it,  and  the  grace  of  God 
brings  it  on  to  farther  improvement :  but  if  it  is  out  of 

*  See  chap.  v.  12,  13.  fChap.  vi.  1. 


Lect.  4.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  275 

culture,  thorns  and  briars  get  possession  of  it,  and  its 
end  is  to  be  burned.  When  thorns  and  briars  shall  be 
planted  in  Paradise,  then  such  careless  Christians  may 
expect  to  be  admitted  into  heaven.  From  the  consi- 
deration of  Christ's  Priesthood,  we  are  exhorted  to 
draw  near  with  faith,  and  partake  of  his  blessing,  by 
attending  upon  his  Church  and  his  ordinances ;  not 
forsaking  the  assembling  ourselves  together  as  the  man- 
ner of  some  is.*  The  Jews,  I  fear,  in  the  worst  of 
times,  were  more  zealous  in  attending  their  public 
services  and  sacrifices,  than  some  of  those  who  call 
themselves  Christians.  In  the  best  days  of  the  Church, 
it  was  always  the  manner  of  some  few  to  absent  them- 
selves from  the  religious  assemblies  of  the  Christians : 
but  what  would  St.  Paul  have  said,  if  he  had  lived  to 
these  times,  when  perhaps  not  one  half  of  the  people 
are  at  the  public  prayers  ;  not  one  quarter  of  them  at 
the  sacrament  ?  and  they  have  no  persecution  to  fear, 
as  the  primitive  Christians  had,  who  attended  their 
worship  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives.  It  must  be  ow- 
ing to  mere  idleness  and  indifference ;  for  however 
business  may  be  pleaded  on  the  ordinary  days  of  the 
week,  it  cannot  be  pleaded  on  a  Sunday.  This  truth 
I  must  suppose  them  to  know ;  that  if  their  Saviour  is 
a  Priest,  they  must  partake  of  the  sacrifice  he  offers 
for  their  salvation.  But  there  is  another  dreadful  truth, 
which  they  do  not  think  of;  that,  to  those  who  do  not 
partake  of  this  sacrifice  for  sin,   there  remaineth  no 


*  Chap.  x.  22,  &cc. 


276  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  4. 

other  ;  but  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment 
and  fiery  indignation,  which  shall  devour  the  adversa- 
ries. If  he  who  despised  Moses''  law  died  without 
mercy,  of  how  much  sorer  punishment  shall  they  be 
thought  worthy  who  do  this  despite  to  the  spirit  of 
grace  *  by  neglecting  the  great  atonement  that  was 
made  by  Christ  himself  for  the  sins  of  the  world  ?  It 
is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living 
God,\  and  be  made  an  example  of  divine  vengeance : 
and  what  else  can  they  expect,  who  refuse  to  accept  of 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  by  which  alone  the  fiery  indig- 
nation of  God  can  be  turned  away  from  their  own  per- 
sons ?  No  words  are  sufficient  to  express  their  dan- 
ger :  O  that  they  could  see  it  themselves,  and  would 
consider  of  it,  and  not  trust  to  such  frivolous  excuses 
as  will  stand  them  in  no  stead  in  the  day  of  visitation  ! 
To  encourage  us  in  our  Christian  warfare,  the  Apos- 
tle sets  before  us  at  large  the  examples  of  the  Saints 
of  old,  who  were  all  saved  by  leading  a  life  of  faith  : % 
enduring  every  trial,  and  conquering  every  enemy,  on 
this  great  principle.  There  never  was  any  other  way 
of  salvation  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  but  this 
way  of  faith.  All  the  Saints  of  God  who  found  accep- 
tance with  him,  depended  upon  his  word  and  promise, 
for  such  things  as  they  could  not  see  ;  and  either  for- 
sook the  pleasures  of  the  world,  or  contradicted  its  er- 
rors, and  endured  its  reproaches,  for  his  sake.  We 
may  plead  the  business  of  life,  and  the  cares  of  life ; 

*  Chap.  x.  26,  Sic.  f  Chap,  x,  31. 

\  See  chap.  xi.  of  this  Epistle. 


Lect.  4.}  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  277 

but  they  had  their  business  and  their  cares  as  well  as 
we ;  yet  they  loved  God,  and  made  it  their  first  care  to 
be  saved.  The  race  we  are  to  run  may  have  its  diffi- 
culties :  indeed,  if  it  is  a  race,  it  cannot  be  without 
them  :  but  we  are  encompassed  with  a  cloud  of  witnes- 
ses,* all  testifying  that  this  RACE  may  be  run,  and 
the  prize  obtained ;  because  they  did  actually  perform 
it,  and  are  entitled  to  the  crown  of  victory.  "What 
hinders  us  from  doing  the  same  ;  but  that  we  are  re- 
tarded by  some  weight,  which  we  are  not  careful  to 
divest  ourselves  of  and  lay  aside  ?  We  do  not  strive 
against  that  sin,  whatever  it  may  be,  which  most  easily 
besets  us,  and  is  never  to  be  subdued  but  by  faith, 
and  prayer,  and  self-denial ;  faith  in  better  things  than 
this  world  can  bestow ;  and  prayer  for  that  grace  which 
may  assist  us  in  doing  what  our  strength  will  never 
accomplish. 

Great  is  the  influence  which  the  example  of  God's 
faithful  servants  will  have  upon  our  minds,  if  we  me- 
ditate upon  it.  They  were  men  of  like  passions  with 
ourselves,  and  were  not  without  their  weaknesses: 
Sin  put  on  the  same  deceitful  appearance  to  them  as 
to  us  :  and  they  had  the  scorn  of  an  overbearing  world 
to  resist,  as  we  have  now.  Their  example,  while  it 
instructs,  will  animate  and  encourage  us.  But  greater 
than  all  is  the  examples  of  our  blessed  Saviour  him- 
self: therefore  we  are  directed  to  look  unto  Jesus  the 
author  and  finisher  of  our  faith,  who  for  the  joy  that 
%vas  set  before  him  endured  the  cross,  despising  the 

*  Chap.  xii.  I. 


278  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  {Lect.  4. 

shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  God.* — 
What  are  the  troubles  we  are  accustomed  to,  com- 
pared with  the  agonies  of  the  cross  ?  What  is  the  con- 
tempt of  silly  empty  people,  who  call  themselves  the 
world,  compared  with  the  disgrace  of  hanging  naked 
as  a  malefactor  before  a  multitude,  who  mocked  at 
the  punishment  as  a  proof  that  he  who  suffered  it  was 
an  impostor?  Nothing  was  ever  so  full  of  apparent 
disgrace,  as  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ  at  his  pas- 
sion. How  distressing,  and  almost  distracting  is  it, 
to  be  innocent,  and  yet  seem  to  be  guilty  ?  This  is  a 
piercing  trial  to  an  honest  mind.  To  affect  to  be  great 
when  we  are  mean,  and  powerful  when  we  are  weak, 
exposes  us  to  the  scorn  of  every  enemy  ;  and  this  the 
enemies  of  Christ  laid  to  his  charge,  and  gratified  them- 
selves with  every  malicious  expression  that  could  add 
to  the  apparent  infamy  of  his  sufferings.  Yet  all  this 
shame  he  patiently  endured,  for  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  him.  This  we  are  to  consider  under  all  our 
trials.  God  does  not  lay  upon  us  any  grief  or  chas- 
tening, for  its  own  sake ;  but  to  correct  our  minds ? 
and  give  us  a  title  to  that  joy,  which  shall  be  the  re- 
ward of  patient  suffering.  Thus  shall  wTe  not  be  weary 
and  faint  in  our  minds.  I  grant  it  is  a  severe  trial  to 
mortal  man,  to  deserve  good  and  receive  evil ;  but  to 
this  we  are  all  called,  as  the  followers  of  a  crucified 
Saviour.  The  Son  of  God  was  made  perfect  through 
sufferings  ;  and  if  God  is  our  Father,  we  must  expect 


Chap.  xii.  2. 


Lect.  4.\  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  279 

that  he  will  chasten  us ;  if  he  does  not,  then  are  we 
bastards  and  not  sons.*  Bastards  are  often  forsaken 
by  their  parents,  and  left  to  grow  up  without  correc- 
tion ;  consequendy  to  be  brought  up  by  the  tendency 
of  their  unreformed  nature  to  misery  and  destruction  ; 
but  no  Christian  would  wish  for  such  a  privilege  :  he 
judges  it  far  better  to  suffer  in  hope,  than  to  be  at  his 
ease,  as  one  whom  God  hath  neglected. 

From  the  description  given  of  the  Church  as  a  spi- 
ritual society,  the  Christian  is  to  learn  the  dignity  of 
his  own  character,  and  to  conduct  himself  in  a  manner 
suitable  to  his  station.  He  seems  outwardly  like  other 
men  ;  but  inwardly  he  has  an  honourable  place  in  the 
kingdom  of  spirits :  he  is  in  the  company  of  angels, 
saints,  and  martyrs  ;  he  is  under  the  dominion  of  God 
as  his  king  and  lawgiver  ;  he  is  a  student  of  wisdom 
in  the  school  that  has  sent  so  many  sons  unto  glory ; 
he  is  within  the  covenant  that  is  sealed  by  the  blood 
of  Christ  for  his  purification  and  redemption ;  his 
name  is  registered  in  heaven,  as  an  heir  of  immortali- 
ty :  he  knows  that  while  the  mighty  empires  of  the 
earth  are  changing  and  passing  away  into  oblivion  ;  the 
kingdom  of  which  he  is  a  member  shall  never  be 
moved.\  The  earth  shall  be  shaken,  and  the  heavens 
shall  melt  away;  but  his  inheritance  is  secure.  The 
same  God  who  is  a  consuming  jire  to  an  impenitent 
world,  will  be  to  him  a  Protector  and  a  Saviour,  if  he 
serves  him  acceptably,  in  this  short  time  of  his  proba- 
tion, with  reverence  and  godly  fear. 


*  Chap.  xii.  8.  f  Chap.  xii.  28. 


280  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLect.  4. 

The  last  chapter  of  the  Epistle  consists  wholly  of 
exhortations,  relating  to  the  great  duties  of  charity, 
purity,  submission,  and  a  detachment  from  the  world. 

All  parties  of  men  are  bound  together  by  a  common 
interest ;  which,  though  in  some  cases  even  wicked 
and  absurd,  and  little  better  than  a  conspiracy,  will 
have  its  effect  in  disposing  them  to  espouse  the  cause, 
and  prefer  the  company  and  conversation  of  one  ano- 
ther. Now,  as  there  is  no  common  interest  so  im- 
portant as  that  of  Christians,  it  ought  to  produce  such 
a  friendship  as  is  superior  to  every  other  relation  or 
connection.  Remember  them  that  are  in  bonds,  says 
the  Apostle,  as  bound  with  them  ;  that  is,  considering 
that  they  are  members  of  the  body  of  Christ,  and  that 
one  member  cannot  suffer  without  affecting  the  rest. 
The  same  rule  is  applicable  to  every  other  condition 
of  life;  as  if  it  had  been  said  ;  remember  them  that  are 
poor,  as  partaking  of  their  poverty  ;  remember  them 
that  are  sick,  as  being  sick  with  them  :  for  thence  we 
shall  feel  the  same  obligation  to  relieve  them  as  to  re- 
lieve ourselves;  and  much  greater  comfort,  because  it 
is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 

Purity  of  life  is  another  virtue  essential  to  the 
Christian  character.  We  are  to  consider  ourselves  as 
brought  into  that  heavenly  society,  wherein  are  angels, 
saints,  and  martyrs :  then,  how  shocking  will  it  be  to 
reflect,  that  an  impure  Christian  is  impure  in  the  com- 
pany of  Angels ;  drunk,  and  like  a  beast,  in  the  com- 
pany of  Angels  ;  covetous,  ambitious,  self-interested, 
and  deceitful,  in  the  company  of  Angels.  Hence  you 
will  understand,  how  a  wicked  Christian  is  worse 


I^ct.4.J  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  281 

than  a  wicked  heathen,  and  will  have  a  more  severe 
account  to  give  ;  because  he  adds  affront  and  insult  to 
his  wickedness  ;  so  that  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for 
him. 

From  the  consideration,  that  true  religion  has  al- 
ways had  the  same  object  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world,  namely,  tiiat  of  bringing  men  to  God  by  the 
way  of  faith  and  patience ;  and  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
same  yesterday ',  to-day ',  and  for  ever  ;  yesterday,  un- 
der the  Law ;  to-day,  under  the  Gospel ;  and  for  ever, 
in  the  kingdom  of  Glory  ;  we  should  learn  to  be  sted- 
fast  in  this  ancient  plan,  and  look  with  a  suspicious 
eye  upon  all  pretended  reformations  and  improve- 
ments of  modern  Christians,  who  are  inventing  new 
modes  of  faith,  and  would  shew  us  what  they  call  a 
more  excellent  way.  Vanity  is  always  fond  of  novel- 
ty :  you  see  it  every  day  in  the  common  change  of 
fashions :  and  therefore  vain  men  are  carried  about 
with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  propagated  by  those  who 
are  igriorant  of  the  antiquity  of  that  religion,  by  which 
all  believers  have  been  and  are  row  to  be  saved.  If 
men  did  but  study  the  scripture  on  a  right  principle, 
without  a  spirit  of  party,  and  enquired  duly  into  pri- 
mitive Christianity,  they  would  be  ashamed  of  the  lit- 
tle mean  differences  and  distinctions  which  divide  their 
hearts,  and  break  them  into  sects  ;  filling  them  with  a 
Pharisaical  pride  against  one  another;  as  if  the  end  of 
the  commandment  were  not  charity,  but  hatred,  con- 
tempt, and  ill-will. 

36 


232  LECTURES  ON  THE  EPISTLE  JLkct.4. 

To  prevent  this,  the  Apostle  instructs  the  Hebrews 
to  obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  them,  their  lawful 
Pastors  and  Teachers,  whom  Christ  hath  appointed  to 
keep  them  in  the  way  of  peace  ;  and  whose  studies  and 
labours  must  qualify  them  to  inform  and  direct  the 
ignorant  better  than  they  can  direct  themselves.  An 
abuse  of  the  principles  of  the  reformation,  which  can 
never  be  sufficiently  lamented,  has  at  length  made 
every  man  his  own  teacher,  and  established  a  spirit  of 
self-exaltation  and  opposition,  than  which  no  temper  is 
more  hateful  to  God,  because  none  is  so  destructive 
of  piety  and  peace.  Christians  should  leave  that  to  the 
sons  of  the  earth,  who  are  disputing  for  power,  places 
and  pre-eminence  ;  with  whom  gain  is  godliness,  be- 
cause they  have  no  God  but  Mammon  and  Belial,  no 
view  nor  hopes  beyond  the  present  life. 

This  leads  me  back  to  the  great  source  of  all  moral 
instruction,  on  which  the  Apostle  hath  so  frequently 
insisted,  and  with  which  I  shall  conclude ;  I  mean  the 
necessity  of  a  detachment  from  the  world  in  all  those 
who  would  be  followers  of  Jesus  Christ.  Our  Master 
was  one  who  came  to  disown  the  world,  and  to  be 
disowned  by  it :  he  came  to  his  own  and  was  not  re- 
ceived  by  them  ;  he  was  hated  for  his  truth,  reviled  for 
his  works  of  goodness  and  mercy,  and  at  his  death  was 
led  out  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem  to  suffer  without  the 
gate,*  as  one  disowned,  and  cast  out,  and  delivered 
over  to  the  world  of  the  Gentiles;  all  of  which  was  fore- 
shewn  by  the  great  yearly  sacrifice,  whose  blood  was 

*  Chap.  xiii.  12. 


Lect.  4.{  TO  THE  HEBREWS.  283 

first  offered  in  the  Tabernacle,  and  then  it  was  carried 
out  to  be  burned  without  the  camp.  On  this  the  Apos- 
tle raises  an  affecting  exhortation,  that  we  ought  to  go 
out  after  him  bearing  his  reproach  ;  even  the  reproach 
of  being  despised  and  disowned  and  cast  out  by  the 
world,  as  he  was.  Every  Christian,  though  he  is  nei- 
ther with  the  camp,  nor  with  the  city  of  Jesusaleni,  has 
some  attachment  which  he  is  called  upon  to  leave,  and 
to  be  despised  for  so  doing :  he  must  go  out  either 
from  the  wisdom  of  the  world,  or  the  fashion  of  the 
world,  or  the  party  and  the  interests  of  worldly  people 
as  Christ  went  out  of  the  gate  of  Jerusalem,  and  as 
Abraham  forsook  his  family  and  friends,  to  obey  the 
calling  of  God.  The  unbelieving  Jews  looked  with 
contempt  on  those  who  left  them  to  follow  a  crucified 
Master,  whom  they  had  led  out  of  their  city  as  a  male- 
factor and  delivered  to  the  Gentiles ;  and  the  world  will 
cast  reproach  upon  all  those  who  forsake  its  opinions 
and  customs.  But,  as  the  Jews  themselves  were  soon 
afterwards  driven  out  from  their  city,  and  their  whole 
ceconomy  was  dissolved  ;  so  shall  the  world  itself  be 
destroyed,  and  its  inhabitants  shall  be  turned  out  from 
the  place  in  which  they  trusted:  When  this  shall  hap- 
pen, they  have  no  other  place  in  reserve ;  but  we 
shall  find  that  city,  that  continuing  city,  which  we  have 
so  long  looked  after,  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God. 


End  of  Lectures  on  the  Hebrexvs* 


A  LECTURE 


THE  NATURAL  EVIDENCES 


CHRISTIANITY; 


DELIVERED  AS 


A  SERMON 


MR.  FAIRCHILD'S  FOUNDATION, 


CHURCH  OP  ST.  LEONARD,  SHOREDITCH,  ON  TUESDAY  IN 
WHITSUN  WEEK,  1787. 


A  LECTURE,  &c. 


THE  wisdom  of  God  in  the  natural  creation,  is 
a  proper  subject  of  the  lecture  delivered  in  this  place 
upon  this  occasion  :  but  as  the  knowledge  of  the  scrip- 
tures is  not  excluded,  I  may  be  permitted  to  bring 
them  both  together  into  one  discourse  :  for  they  illus- 
trate one  another  in  a  wonderful  manner :  and  he  who 
can  understand  God  as  the  fountain  of  truth,  and  the 
Saviour  of  men,  in  the  holy  scripture,  will  be  better 
disposed  to  understand  and  adore  him  as  the  fountain 
of  power  and  goodness  in  the  natural  creation. 

To  those  who  search  for  it,  and  have  pleasure  in  re- 
ceiving it,  there  is  a  striking  alliance  between  the  (Eco- 
nomy of  Nature,  and  the  principles  of  divine  Revela- 
tion ;  and  unless  we  study  both  together,  we  shall  be 
liable  to  mistake  things  now,  as  the  unbelieving  Sad- 
ducees  did,  in  their  vain  reasonings  with  our  blessed 
Saviour.  They  erred,  not  knowing  the  scriptures, 
nor  the  power  of  God:  they  neither  understood  them 
separately,  nor  knew  how  to  compare  them  together. 

Men  eminently  learned,  and  worthy  of  all  commen- 
dation, have  excelled  in  demonstating  the  wisdom  of 


288  ON  THE  NATURAL  EVIDENCES 

God  from  the  works  of  Nature :  but  in  this  one  respect 
they  seem  to  have  been  deficient ;  in  that  they  have  but 
rarely  turned  their  arguments  to  the  particular  advan- 
tage of  the  Christian  Revelation,  by  bringing  the  vol- 
ume of  Nature  in  aid  to  the  volume  of  the  Scripture  ; 
as  the  times  now  call  upon  us  to  do :  for  we  have  been 
threatened,  in  very  indecent  and  insolent  language  of 
late  years,  with  the  superior  reasonings  and  forces  of 
natural  philosophy ;  as  if  our  late  researches  into  Nature 
had  put  some  new  weapons  into  the  hands  of  Infidelity, 
which  the  friends  of  the  Christian  Religion  will  be  un- 
able to  stand  against.  One  writer  in  particular,  who 
is  the  most  extravagant  in  his  philosophical  flights, 
seems  to  have  persuaded  himself,  and  would  persuade 
us,  that  little  more  is  required  to  overthrow  the  whole 
faith  and  ceconomy  of  the  Church  of  England,  than  a 
philosophical  apparatus ;  and  that  every  prelate  and 
priest  amongst  us  hath  reason  to  tremble  at  the  sight. 
This  is  not  the  voice  of  piety  and  learning,  but  of  va- 
pouring vanity  and  delusion.  Neither  a  Bacon,  nor  a 
Boyle,  nor  a  Newton,  would  ever  have  descended  to 
such  language,  so  contrary  to  their  good  manners  and 
religious  sentiments:  the  first  of  whom  hath  wisely 
observed,  that  the  works  of  God  minister  a  singular 
help  and  preservative  against  unbelief  and  error :  our 
Saviour,  as  he  saith,  having  laid  before  us  two  books 
or  volumes  to  study  ;  first  the  scriptures,  revealing  the 
will  of  God,  and  then  the  creatures,  expressing  his 
power  ;  whereof  the  latter  is  a  key  unto  the  former.* 

*  See  Bacon's  Adv.  of  Learning,  B.  1 . 


OF  CHRISTIANITY.  289 

Such  was  the  piety  and  penetration  of  this  great  man. 
However,  let  us  not  take  it  amiss,  that,  at  certain 
times,  we  are  rudely  attacked  and  insulted.  Chris- 
tians under  the  temptations  of  ease  and  security,  would 
forget  themselves,  and  go  to  sleep  :  they  are  therefore 
obliged  to  their  adversaries  for  disturbing  them, 
that  they  may  awake,  like  Samson,  and  discover  their 
own  strength.  So  little  reason  have  we  in  fact  to  be 
terrified  with  the  threatenings  of  our  adversaries,  that 
we  invite  them  to  enter  with  us  upon  a  comparison 
between  the  word  and  the  works  of  God.  For  it  will 
be  found  true,  as  I  shall  endeavour  to  shew,  that  the 
invisible  things  of  God,  that  is,  the  things  concerning 
his  Being  and  his  Power,  and  the  oeconomy  of  his 
spiritual  kingdom,  which  are  the  objects  of  our  faith, 
are  clearly  seen  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  and 
understood  by  the  things  that  are  made. 

Having  much  matter  to  propose,  I  must  not  in- 
dulge myself  in  the  use  of  any  superfluous  words.  A 
plain  and  unadorned  discourse  will  be  accepted  rather 
for  the  meaning  than  the  form :  and  as  I  am  about  to 
consider  the  works  of  God  in  a  new  capacity,  I  must 
bespeak  your  attention,  not  without  a  degree  of  your 
candour  also,  to  excuse  an  adventurous  excursion  into 
an  unfrequented  path  of  divinity. 

Let  us  enquire  then,  how  the  religious  state  of  man, 
and  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  God,  as  the  scriptures  have 
made  them  known  to  us  ;  that  is,  how  Christianity,  as 
a  scheme  of  doctrine,  agrees  with  the  works  of  God, 
and  the  oeconomy  of  Nature  ?  In  consequence  of  which 
it  will  be  found,  that  the  Christian  Religion  hath  the 

37 


290  0N  THE  NATURAL  EVIDENCES 

attestation  of  natural  philosophy ;  and  that  every  other 
religion  hath  it  not. 

Our  Bible  teaches  us  these  great  principles  or  doc- 
trines :  that  man  is  now  in  a  fallen  state  of  forfeiture 
under  sin  and  death,  and  suffering  the  penalties  of  dis- 
obedience :  that,  as  a  religious  being,  he  is  the  scholar 
of  heaven,  and  must  be  taught  of  God :  that  the  Al- 
mighty Father  of  men  and  angels  gives  him  life  and 
spirit ;  in  other  words,  by  Christ  and  the  Holy 
Ghost :  that  there  is  danger  to  us  from  the  malignity 
and  power  of  evil  spirits :  that  a  curse  hath  been  in- 
flicted upon  the  earth  by  a  flood  of  water  :  that  there 
is  no  remission  of  sin  without  shedding  of  blood ;  and 
that  a  divine  life  is  supported  in  us  by  partaking  of  the 
death  of  Christ  in  the  Paschal  or  Sacramental  Feast  of 
the  Lord's  Table;  that  there  is  a  restoration  to  life  after 
death  by  a  resurrection  of  the  body  ;  and  lastly,  that 
the  world  which  we  inhabit  shall  be  destroyed  by  fire. 
These  are  the  principles,  at  least  the  chief  of  them, 
which  are  peculiar  to  the  scriptures.  He  that  believes 
them  is  a  Christian ;  and  if  the  works  and  ways  of  na- 
ture have  a  correspondence  with  these  principles,  and 
with  no  other,  then  ought  every  natural  philosopher  to 
be  a  Christian  believer. 

I.  Let  us  proceed  then  to  examine  how  the  case, 
stands.  The  unbelieving  philosopher  supposes  man 
to  be  in  the  same  state  of  perfection  now,  as  when 
he  came  from  the  hands  of  his  Creator.  But  the  in- 
firmities of  his  mind,  with  the  diseases  and  death  of  his 
body,  proclaim  the  contrar)'.  When  the  death  of 
man  is  from  the  hand  of  man,  according  to  the  laws 


OF  CHRISTIANITY.  291 

of  justice,  it  is  an  execution :  and  is  the  same  in  its 
nature,  when  inflicted  upon  all  men  by  the  hands  of  a 
just  God.  The  moral  history  of  man  informs  us,  that 
he  offended  God  by  eating  in  sin.  His  natural  history 
shews  us,  that,  in  consequence  of  it,  he  now  eats  in 
labour  and  sorrow.  The  world  is  full  of  toil  and  trou- 
ble :  and  lor  what  end,  but  that  man  may  earn  his  dai- 
ly bread  ?  The  hands  of  the  husbandman  are  harden- 
ed, and  his  back  is  bowed  down  with  the  cultivation 
of  the  earth.  Thorns  and  thistles  prevail  against  him, 
and  multiply  his  labour.  While  some  are  toiling  up- 
on the  earth,  others  are  doomed  to  work  underneath  it. 
Some  are  exercised  and  wasted  with  works  of  heat : 
some,  for  a  livelihood,  are  exposed  to  the  storms  and 
perils  of  the  sea  :  and  they,  who  are  called  to  the  dan- 
gers of  war,  support  their  lives  at  the  hazard  of  losing 
them. 

The  woman,  who  was  first  in  the  transgression,  is 
distinguished  by  sorrows  peculiar  to  her  sex  :  and  if 
some  are  exempt,  they  are  exceptions  which  confirm 
the  general  law ;  and  shew,  that  the  penalty  doth  not 
follow  by  any  necessity  of  Nature,  but  is  inflicted. 

Many  are  the  unavoidable  sorrows  of  life :  but  if 
we  consider  how  many  more  are  brought  upon  man  by 
himself,  it  is  plain  his  mind  is  not  right :  for  if  he  had 
his  sight  and  his  senses,  he  would  see  better,  and  avoid 
them. 

Suppose  human  nature  to  be  perfect ;  what  is  the 
consequence  ?  We  not  only  contradict  our  own  daily 
experience ;  but  we  supersede  the  use  of  Christianity, 
by  denying  the  existence  of  those  evils,  for  which  only 


-292  ON  THE  NATURAL  EVIDENCES 

it  is  provided.  The  whole  system  of  it  is  offered  to 
us  as  a  cure  for  the  consequences  of  the  fall.  From 
the  accommodation  of  its  graces,  gifts,  and  sacraments, 
to  the  wants  of  our  nature,  we  have  a  demonstration 
that  our  minds  are  in  a  distempered  and  sinful  state  : 
as  the  drugs  and  instruments  in  the  shop  of  the  sur- 
geon are  so  many  arguments  that  our  bodies  are  frail 
and  mortal. 

II.  The  scriptures  declare  farther,  that  man,  thus 
born  in  sin  and  sorrow,  would  grow  up  in  darkness 
and  ignorance,  as  to  all  heavenly  things,  unless  he 
were  taught  of  God  ;  whose  word  is  therefore  said  to 
be  a  light.  The  case  is  the  same  in  nature.  For 
how  doth  man  receive  the  knowledge  of  all  distant  ob- 
jects ?  not  by  a  light  that  is  within  himself,  but  by  a 
light  which  comes  to  him  from  heaven,  and  brings  to 
his  sight  a  sense  of  the  objects  from  which  it  is  reflect- 
ed. What  an  uninformed  empty  being  would  man 
become  in  his  bodily  state ;  how  destitute  of  the 
knowledge  of  all  remote  objects,  but  for  the  rays  of 
light  which  come  to  him  from  without  ?  Such  would 
he  be  in  his  religious  capacity  without  the  light  of  re- 
velation, which  was  therefore  sent  out  into  all  lands, 
as  the  light  of  the  sun  is  diffused  throughout  the 
world  :  The  people  that  walked  in  darkness  (such  is 
the  state  we  are  born  to)  have  seen  a  great  light :  they 
that  dwell  in  the  land  of  the  sJmdow  of  death,  upon 
them  hath  the  light  shined.  *  The  scriptures  declare  that 
we  are  in  a  state  of  stupidity  and  death,  till  we  are  illu- 

•  Isa.  ix.  2. 


OF  CHRISTIANITY.  293 

minated  by  the  Gospel :  Awake  thou  that  steepest,  and 
rise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light.* 
But  they  cannot  make  our  souls  worse  than  our  bodies 
would  be  without  the  visible  lights  of  heaven ;  and 
therefore  in  this  respect,  the  physical  state  of  man  an- 
swers precisely  to  his  religious  state ;  and  if  we  duly 
observe  and  reflect  upon  the  one,  we  must  admit  the 
other  also,  or  oppose  the  testimony  of  our  senses. 

III.  The  gospel  informs  us,  that  there  is  a  light  of 
life  to  the  soul  of  man,  and  a  divine  Spirit  of  God  which 
quickens  and  inspires  ;  and  that  the  whole  ceconomy 
of  grace  is  administered  to  us  by  the  persons  of  the 
Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  are  not  the  principles 
of  man's  natural  life  maintained  by  a  parallel  agency 
in  nature?  Do  we  not  there  also  find  a  light  to  animate, 
and  a  spirit  to  inspire  and  give  us  breath  ?  The  Di- 
vine Spirit,  from  his  nature  and  office,  takes  his  name 
from  the  air  or  natural  spirit  of  the  world,  which  sup- 
plies us  with  the  breath  of  life.  On  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost he  descended  from  heaven  under  the  outward 
sign  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind ;  that  from  his  philo- 
sophical emblem  we  might  understand  his  nature  and 
operations ;  who,  like  the  wind,  is  invisible,  irresisti- 
ble, the  medium  of  life,  and  the  inspirer  of  the  prophets 
and  apostles,  who  all  spake  as  the  Spirit  gave  them 
utterance.  The  air  is  the  instrument  of  speech,  and 
the  vehicle  of  sound.  Such  was  the  Divine  Spirit  to 
the  apostles ;  by  whose  aid  and  operation,  their  sound 
•went  out  into  all  lands.     The  ways  of  the  Spirit  of 

*Eph.  v.  14. 


294  0N  THE  NATURAL  EVIDENCES 

God  in  the  birth  of  man  unto  grace,  are  hidden  from 
us :  we  distinguish  him  only  by  his  effects  :  so  it  is  in 
nature  ;  we  hear  the  sound  of  the  wind,  but  we  cannot 
tell  whence  it  cometh,  nor  whither  it  goeth.  Thus 
did  our  Saviour  himself  illustrate  the  operations  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  from  those  of  the  air  :  and,  what  is  very 
remarkable,  he  communicated  the  Holy  Ghost  to  his 
disciples  under  the  outward  sign  of  breathing  upon 
them. 

In  the  invisible  kingdom  of  God,  there  is  a  sun  of 
righteousness  which  rises  upon  a  world  that  lieth  in 
darkness ;  raising  up  the  dead  to  a  new  life,  and  resto- 
ring all  that  sin  and  death  had  destroyed.  So  doth  the 
visible  world  present  to  us  the  great  luminary  of  the 
day,  whose  operations  are  in  all  respects  like  to  those 
of  the  sun  of  righteousness.  In  the  morning  it  prevails 
over  darkness,  and  in  the  spring  it  restores  the  face  of 
Nature. 

When  the  scriptures  say  that  the  powers  of  the  world 
and  Spirit  of  God  are  necessary  to  the  souls  of  men  ; 
they  say  no  more  than  what  the  most  scrupulous  phi- 
losophy must  admit  in  regard  to  their  bodies  :  for  cer- 
tainly mankind  cannot  subsist  without  the  sun  and  the 
air.  They  must  have  light,  to  live  by  as  well  as  to  see 
by ;  and  they  must  have  breath,  without  which  they  can 
neither  live,  nor  speak,  nor  hear. 

We  are  to  argue  farther ;  that  as  we  must  suppose  a 
sun  to  shine  before  we  can  suppose  a  man  to  exist 
upon  earth :  so,  by  parity  of  reason,  the  Divine  light 
was  pre-existent  to  all  those  who  are  saved  by  it :  and 
to  presume  that  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  that  light,  is  only 


OF  CHRISTIANITY.  295 

a  man  like  ourselves,  is  as  false  in  divinity,  as  it  would 
be  false  in  philosophy  to  report  the  sun  in  the  heavens 
as  a  thing  of  yesterday,  and  formed,  like  ourselves,  out 
of  the  dust  of  the  ground.  Doth  not  philosophy  teach 
us,  that  the  elementary  powers  of  light  and  air  are  in  na- 
ture supreme  and  sovereign  ?  for,  is  there  any  thing- 
above  them  ?  Is  there  a  sun  above  the  sun  that  rules 
the  day  ;  and  is  there  a  spirit  above  the  wind  that  gives 
us  breath  ?  therefore,  so  are  the  persons  of  Christ  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  supreme  and  divine  in  the  invisible 
kingdom  of  God.  If  not,  it  must  lead  us  into  idolatry 
and  blasphemy,  when  we  see  them  represented  to  us 
in  the  scripture  by  these  sovereign  powers  in  nature. 
God  is  Light,  and  God  is  a  Spirit;  therefore,  that 
person  who  is  called  the  Spirit  must  be  divine ;  and 
Jesus  Christ  who  is  the  true  Light  must  be  the  true 
God. 

Wheresoever  we  go  in  divinity,  thither  will  philoso- 
phy still  follow  us  as  a  faithful  witness.  For  if  we  are 
assured  by  revelation,  that  there  is  a  power  of  divine 
justice  to  execute  vengeance  on  the  enemies  of  God, 
and  which  shall  destroy  with  a  fearful  destruction  the 
ungodly  and  impenitent  whenever  it  shall  reach  them  : 
we  find  in  nature  the  irresistible  power  of  fire,  which 
dissipates  and  destroys  what  it  acts  upon,  and  which 
in  many  instances  hath  been  applied  as  the  instrument 
of  vengeance  upon  wicked  men.  Sacrifices  were  con- 
sumed by  fire,  to  signify  that  wrath  from  heaven  is  due 
to  sin,  and  would  fall  upon  the  sinful  offerer  himself,  if 
the  victim  did  not  receive  it  for  him  by  substitution. 
When  the  law  was  given  on  Mount  Sinai,  the  heavens 


296  ON  THE  NATURAL  EVIDENCES 

flamed  with  fire,  and  the  mountain  burned  below,  to 
give  the  people  a  sense  of  the  terrors  of  divine  judg- 
ment. With  allusion  to  which  exhibition,  and  other 
examples  of  the  actual  effects  of  his  wrath,  God  is  said 
to  be  a  consuming  fire :  and  happy  are  they  who  re- 
gard the  power  of  it,  and  jiee  from  it,  as  Lot  and  his 
family  fled  from  the  flames  of  Sodom. 

IV.  Another  doctrine,  peculiar  to  the  scripture,  is, 
the  danger  to  which  we  are  exposed  in  our  religious 
capacity,  from  the  malignity  and  power  of  the  Devil ; 
whose  works  are  manifest,  though  he  himself  is  invisi- 
ble. But  the  natural  creation  bears  witness  to  his  ex- 
istence, and  to  all  his  evil  properties  ;  where  the  wis- 
dom of  God  hath  set  before  us  that  creature  the  Serpent 
a  singular  phenomenon  of  the  same  kind ;  whose  bite 
diffuses  death  so  suddenly  and  miraculously  through 
the  body,  that  he  may  be  said,  in  comparison  of  all 
other  creatures,  to  have  the  power  of  death.  He  is 
double-tongued  and  insidious ;  often  undiscovered  till 
he  has  given  the  fatal  wound.  In  a  word,  he  is  such  a 
pattern  of  the  invisible  adversary  of  mankind,  who  was 
a  liar  and  a  murderer  from  the  beginning,  that  the  hie- 
roglyphical  lauguage  of  the  Bible  speaks  of  him  in  the 
history  of  the  first  temptation  under  the  name  of  the 
Serpent.  The  wicked  who  are  related  to  him  as  his 
seed  or  children,  are  called  a  generation  of  vipers  ;  by 
which  figurative  phrase  it  is  literally  meant,  that  they 
were  of  their  father  the  Devil. 

In  the  modern  systems  and  schemes  of  those  who  af- 
fect the  philosophical  character,  we  are  not  always 
sure  of  finding  a  God  :  but  we  are  sure  never  to  find 


OF  CHRISTIANITY.  297 

a  Devil :  for  as  the  Heathens  of  old  offered  sacrifices  to 
him  without  understanding  that  they  did  so;  in  like  man- 
ner do  some  people  of  these  days  work  under  him  with- 
out knowing  him.  Yet  certainly,  the  scripture,  by  its 
application  of  the  word  Serpent  to  the  Tempter  who 
brought  Sin  and  Death  into  the  world,  hath  referred 
us  to  the  natural  creation  for  the  properties  of  the 
Serpent- kind;  and  from  those  properties  every  natu- 
ralist may  learn  what  the  Devil  is,  and  what  we  have 
to  fear  from  him,  more  accurately  and  effectually  than 
any  words  can  teach.  What  he  finds  in  the  natural 
Serpent  he  must  apply  to  another  invisible  Serpent, 
who  can  think  and  reason  and  dispute  the  veracity  of 
God ;  which  the  common  serpent  never  could.  How 
came  so  fearful  and  cursed  a  creature  into  the  works 
of  God  ?  Certainly  for  the  wisest  end :  that  men  might 
understand  and  abhor  and  avoid  the  enemy  of  their 
salvation.  The  world  was  made,  as  the  scriptures 
were  written,  for  our  learning ;  and  unless  the  Serpent 
were  found  in  it,  there  would  be  a  blank  in  the  creation, 
and  we  should  have  been  left  to  seek  for  some  ideas, 
which  are  of  the  last  importance  to  the  mind  of  man. 

Other  ideas,  nearly  related,  may  indeed  be  collected 
from  the  contrariety  between  light  and  darkness ;  with 
their  figurative  alliance  to  moral  good  and  evil.  The 
power  of  Satan  hath  the  like  effect  on  men's  souls  as 
darkness  hath  upon  their  bodies ;  and  the  scripture 
calls  it  the  power  of  darkness.  If  the  enemies  of  God's 
religion  are  called  the  seed  of  the  Serpent,  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  sons  of  God ;  so  are  they  also  represented 

38 


298  0N  THE  NATURAL  EVIDENXES 

to  us  as  children  of  darkness,  in  opposition  to  the  chil- 
dren of  light.  What  communion,  saith  St.  Paul,  hath 
light  with  darkness ;  what  concord  hath  Christ  with 
Belial,  or  what  part  hath  he  that  believeth  with  an  In- 
fidel? The  ancient  Persians,  who  were  given  to  spe- 
culate as  Philosophers  on  the  principles  of  their  Theo- 
logy, argued  from  the  course  of  Nature,  that  there  are 
two  contrary  principles  of  Good  and  Evil  in  the  world 
of  Spirits  :  that  there  is  a  malignant  power  acting  in 
opposition  to  the  benign  goodness  of  the  Creator,  as 
darkness  in  the  vicissitudes  of  day  and  night,  holds 
divided  empire  with  light.  Which  speculations,  pro- 
perly corrected,  are  agreeable  to  the  imagery  of  the 
scripture ;  in  u  hich  the  author  of  evil  is  called  the 
power  of  darkness  ;  and,  in  his  capacity  of  a  destroyer, 
is  compared  to  lightning,  which,  like  Lucifer,  falls 
from  heaven  to  do  mischief  upon  earth. 

V.  Another  doctrine  of  Revelation,  is  the  execution 
of  a  curse  by  the  waters  of  a  flood  ;  which  obliges  us 
to  examine  how  it  agrees  with  the  natural  history  of 
the  earth.  It  was  impossible  to  know  that  this  catas- 
trophe was  universal,  but  by  Revelation  ;  but  when 
known,  it  is  confirmed  as  a  fact  by  the  same  proofs 
of  it  occurring  to  us  in  every  part  of  the  known  world. 
The  curvatures,  furrows,  and  channels,  on  the  whole 
face  of  the  earth,  open  to  common  observation,  are  so 
many  marks  and  monuments  of  the  forcible  effects  of 
descending  waters.  The  relics,  fragments,  and  bones 
of  marine  productions,  every  where  found  under  the 
earth,  shew  that  the  sea  covered  the  land,  and  that  the 
present  world  on  which  we  now  live,  is  the  burying- 


OF  CHRISTIANITY.  299 

ground  of  a  former,  on  which  that  curse  was  executed, 
which  God  pronounced  at  the  beginning.  The  natu- 
ral history  of  the  earth,  as  bearing  this  testimony  to 
the  Flood  of  Noah,  has  been  very  troublesome  to  our 
Infidel- Philosophers ;  and  the  improbability  and  weak- 
ness of  some  theories,  with  the  wild  extravagance  of 
others,  advanced  to  disguise  this  plain  fact,  shew  that 
its  evidence  is  stubborn  and  untractable. 

VI.  The  derivation  of  a  principle  of  life  from  the 
death  of  Christ,  and  the  remission  of  sin  by  the  shed- 
ding of  his  innocent  blood,  are  doctrines  essential  to 
the  Gospel,  and  every  way  agreeable  to  the  condition 
of  man's  natural  life  :  for  we  live  by  the  death  of  in- 
nocent animals,  who  lay  down  their  lives  for  our  sus- 
tenance, not  for  any  fault  of  their  own.  Such  creatures 
as  are  hurtful  and  not  fit  to  live,  are  not  fit  for  us  to  eat. 
The  act  of  killing  clean  beasts  in  sacrifice,  and  the 
sprinkling  of  their  blood,  and  the  feasting  upon  their 
flesh,  had  undoubtedly  an  intended  correspondence 
with  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  support  of 
our  spiritual  life  by  a  participation  of  his  death.  The 
whole  institution  was  prophetical,  and  the  scriptures 
are  copious  in  the  application  of  it.  And  though  the 
act  of  slaughtering  innocent  creatures  is  not  now  a  re- 
ligious act,  as  it  used  to  be,  the  rationale  of  it  is  still 
the  same  ;  and  it  will  speak  the  same  language  to  the 
end  of  the  world  ;  it  will  always  be  declaratory  of  the 
salvation  of  man  by  the  death  of  an  universal  sacrifice. 
The  insensible  people  who  trade  in  the  slaughter  of 
innocent  animals,  and  shed  their  blood  by  profession ; 


300  ON  THE  NATURAL  EVIDENCES 

and  they  who  feed  upon  them  by  daily  custom,  never 
think  of  this  :  but  the  universal  practice  of  mankind 
speaks,  without  their  understanding  it,  that  which 
Caiaphas  prophesied  without  knowing  what  he  said, 
It  is  expedient  that  one  man  die,  that  the  whole  people 
perish  not.  It  is  expedient  that  the  innocent  should 
die  to  feed  our  bodies  :  let  any  man  deny  it  if  he  can : 
and  it  is  equally  expedient,  that  Jesus  Christ  should 
die  to  feed  our  souls. 

Some  Philosophers  of  antiquity,  ignorant  of  the 
terms  man  is  now  upon  with  his  Maker,  refined  upon 
the  traditional  rites  of  sacrifice  and  the  priesthood, 
(which  are  nearly  as  ancient  as  the  world,)  and  rea- 
soned among  themselves  into  an  abhorrence  of  animal 
food.  They  exclaimed  against  the  use  of  it,  as  bar- 
barous and  unworthy  of  a  rational  creature  ;  especially 
as  the  lot  falls  upon  the  most  inoffensive  of  animals, 
whose  dispositions  and  services  have  a  claim  upon  us 
for  kindness  and  protection.  But  these  are  doomed 
to  die  by  the  wise  appointment  of  God,  and  by  these 
men  live ;  as  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous,  with  the  meek- 
ness and  innocence  of  the  Lamb,  was  brought  to  the 
slaughter ;  that  through  his  death  we  might  have  life 
eternal. 

VII.  The  resurrection  of  the  body,  which  comes 
next  in  order,  is  no  where  taught  but  in  the  scriptures. 
The  apparatus  of  the  Philosopher  can  furnish  no  ar- 
gument against  it ;  and  God's  apparatus  is  clearly  on 
the  side  of  it.  For  if  it  be  examined  by  the  light  of 
Nature,  that  is,  by  the  light  reflected  from  natural 


OP  CHRISTIANITY.  301 

things,  it  becomes  a  reasonable,  and  almost  a  natural 
doctrine. 

It  is  evident,  that  man's  body  was  made  of  the  dust 
of  the  earth,  because  we  see  that  it  returns  into  earth 
again.  Philosophy  therefore  may  argue,  that  as  God 
formed  man's  body  of  the  dust  at  first,  he  can  as  ea- 
sily restore  and  raise  the  same  afterwards.  That  he 
will  actually  do  this  is  promised  to  us  in  the  scripture ; 
and  on  that  promise  nature  is  giving  us  a  lecture  every 
day  of  our  lives.  Many  animals,  after  a  torpid  state, 
scar  ely  distinguishable  from  death,  recover  the  pow- 
ers of  life  at  the  proper  season  by  the  influence  of  the 
sun  :  some  after  submersion  in  water  during  the  whole 
winter.  Some  crawl  for  a  time  as  helpless  worms 
upon  the  earth,  like  ourselves ;  then  they  retire  into  a 
covering,  which  answers  the  end  of  a  coffin  or  a  sepul- 
chre, wherein  they  are  invisibly  transformed,  and  come 
forth  in  glorious  array,  with  wings  and  painted  plumes, 
more  like  the  inhabitants  of  heaven,  than  such  worms 
as  they  were  in  their  former  earthly  state.  This  trans- 
formation is  so  striking  and  pleasant  an  emblem  of  the 
present,  the  intermediate,  and  the  glorified  states  of 
man,  that  people  of  the  most  remote  antiquity,  when 
they  buried  their  dead,  embalmed  and  enclosed  them 
in  an  artificial  covering,  so  figured  and  painted,  as  to 
resemble  the  caterpillar  or  silk-worm,  in  the  interme- 
diate state  ;  and  as  Joseph  was  the  first  we  read  of  that 
was  embalmed  in  Egypt,  where  this  manner  prevailed, 
it  was  very  probably  of  Hebrew  original. 


302  ON  THE  NATURAL  EVIDENCES 

The  vicissitudes  of  clay  and  night  instruct  us  farther 
on  the  same  subject.  The  sun  sets  to  rise  again  ;  the 
year  dies  away  into  the  winter,  and  rises  to  verdure 
and  beauty  in  the  spring.  Sleep  is  a  temporary  death 
from  which  we  daily  awake  ;  insomuch  that  in  many 
passages  of  the  scripture  sleep  and  death  are  the  same 
thing,  and  he  that  rises  from  the  dead  is  said  to  awake 
out  of  sleep.*  The  furrow  of  the  field  is  a  grave, 
out  of  which  the  seeds  that  are  buried  rise  to  a  new 
and  better  state.  Their  death  and  burial,  which  seems 
to  be  their  end,  is  the  beginning  of  their  life :  It  is 
not  quickened  except  it  die.  The  allusion  to  plants 
and  seeds  is  very  common  in  the  scripture,  to  illustrate 
the  present  and  future  state  of  man ;  and  if  it  reminds 
us,  that  all  flesh  is  grass,  and  all  the  goodliness  thereof 
as  the  flower  of  the  field;  it  makes  us  amends,  by  as- 
suring us,  that  our  bones  shall  flourish  as  an  herb,  and 
that  every  seed  shall  have  its  own  body. 

VIII.  The  destruction  of  the  world  by  fire  is  the 
last  doctrine  I  shall  take  occasion  to  speak  of:  which, 
though  never  unreasonable,  and  admitted  even  by 
Heathens  of  old  times ;  is  now  more  apparent  than 
ever,  from  the  late  improvements  in  experimental  phi- 
losophy. Indeed,  we  may  say,  the  world  is  already 
on  lire :  for  as  Sinai,  with  its  smoke  and  flame,  was  a 
positive,  so  is  every  volcano  a  natural  prelude  to  the 
burning  of  the  last  day.  The  earth,  the  air,  the  clouds, 


*  See  Dan.  xii.  2. 


OF  CHRISTIANITY.  3Q5 

the  sea,  arc  all  replete  with  a  subtile  penetrating  fire, 
which,  while  at  rest,  is  neither  felt  nor  observed,  and 
wab  absolutely  unknown  to  some  of  the  most  learned 
for  ages  ;  till  accidental  discovery  hath  now  laid  open 
the  treasures  of  fire  in  heaven  and  earth  to  all  that  have 
the  use  of  their  sight  and  senses.  The  publication  of 
the  philosophy  of  fire  hath  been  so  sudden  and  so  uni- 
versal, and  is  so  wonderful  in  itself,  that  it  seems  to 
be  second  to  the  publication  of  the  Gospel :  at  least, 
there  is  no  event  in  philosophy  or  literature  that  comes 
nearer  to  it. 

In  this  element  we  live  and  move ;  and,  perhaps,  so 
far  as  our  frame  is  mechanical,  we  are  moved  by  it. 
When  excited  to  action,  it  turns  into  a  consuming 
fire,  which  no  substance  can  exclude,  no  force  can 
resist.  The  matter  of  lightning,  which  seems  to  break 
out  partially  and  accidentally,  is  now  found  to  be  con- 
stitutional and  universal  in  the  system  of  Nature  :  so 
that  the  heavens,  which,  according  to  the  language  of 
the  scripture,  are  to  melt  with  fervent  heat,  want  no 
foreign  matter  to  convert  them  into  fire.  What  is 
called  phlogiston  can  rise  in  a  moment  from  a  state  of 
quiescence  to  a  state  of  inflammation  ;  and  it  discovers 
itself  in  many  bodies  where  we  should  little  expect  to 
find  it.  The  earth  and  the  works  that  are  therein  carry 
within  them  the  seeds  of  their  own  destruction  ;  and 
may  be  burnt  up  by  that  element  which  now  resides 
within  them,  and  is  only  waiting  for  the  word  from  its 
Creator. 

Upon  the  whole  then,  philosophy,  so  far  as  the  term 


304  0N  THE  NATURAL  EVIDENCES 

signifies  a  knowledge  of  God's  wisdom  and  power  in 
the  natural  creation,  which  is  the  best  sense  of  the 
-word ;  this  philosophy,  I  say,  is  so  far  from  being  ad- 
verse to  true  religion,  that  with  all  the  common  evi- 
dences of  Christianity  in  reserve,  we  may  venture  to 
meet  the  philosopher  upon  his  own  ground:  we  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  testimony  of  Nature  :  we  ap- 
peal to  it :  we  call  upon  every  man  of  science  to  com- 
pare the  gospel  which  God  hath  revealed  with  the 
world  which  God  hath  created;  under  an  assurance, 
that  he  will  find  the  latter  to  be  a  key  unto  the  former ', 
as  our  noble  philosopher  hath  well  asserted.  We 
have  ventured  to  try  this  comparison  upon  the  general 
plan  of  Christianity,  and,  we  see  how  it  answers. 

And  if  Nature  answer  to  Christianity,  it  contradicts 
Deism  ;  and  that  religion  cannot  be  called  natural 
which  is  contradicted  by  the  light  reflected  upon  our 
understandings  from  natural  things.  The  Socinian  is 
nearly  in  the  same  situation  with  the  Deist ;  and  they 
may  both  join  together  in  calling  upon  Nature,  from 
morning  until  night,  as  the  Priests  of  Baal  called  upon 
their  Deity ;  but  there  will  be  none  to  answer  ;  and  phi- 
losophy must  put  out  one  of  his  eyes  before  it  can  ad- 
mit their  doctrines.  In  short,  take  any  religion  but  the 
Christian,  and  bring  it  to  this  test,  by  comparing  it  with 
the  state  of  Nature,  and  it  will  be  found  destitute  and 
defenceless.  But  the  doctrines  of  our  faith  are  attested 
by  the  whole  natural  world.  Wherever  we  turn  our 
eyes,  to  the  heaven  or  to  the  earth,  to  the  sea  or  the 
land,  to  men  or  to  beasts,  to  animals  or  to  plants,  there 


OF  CHRISTIANITY.  3Q5 

we  are  reminded  of  them.  They  are  recorded  in  a  lan- 
guage which  hath  never  been  confounded;  they  are 
written  in  a  text  which  shall  never  be  corrupted. 

The  Creation  of  God  is  the  School  of  Christians,  if 
they  use  it  aright.  What  is  commonly  called  the  World, 
consists  of  the  forms,  manners,  diversions,  pursuits,  and 
prospects,  of  human  society.  But  this  is  an  artificial 
world,  of  man's  making;  the  subject  of  his  study,  the 
object  of  his  ambition.  The  natural  world,  of  God's 
making,  is  full  of  wonder  and  instruction ;  it  is  open  to 
to  all,  it  is  common  to  all.  Here  there  can  be  no  envy, 
no  party,  no  competition ;  for  no  man  will  have  the  less 
for  what  his  neighbour  possesses.  The  world  in  this 
sense,  may  be  enjoyed  without  fraud  or  violence.  The 
student  in  his  solitary  walk,  the  husbandman  at  his  la- 
bour, the  saint  at  his  prayers,  may  have  as  much  as 
they  can  desire,  and  have  nothing  to  repent  of;  for  they 
will  thus  draw  nearer  to  God,  because  they  will 
see  farther  into  his  truth,  wisdom,  and  goodness. 

Some  have  expressed  their  astonishment  at  the  choice 
of  hermits  and  men  of  retirement  as  people  who  have 
fled  from  all  the  enjoyment  of  life ;  and  consigned  them- 
selves to  melancholy  and  misery.  They  are  out  of  the 
world  it  is  true ;  but  they  are  only  out  of  that  artificial 
world  of  man's  making,  in  which  so  many  are  hastening 
to  disappointment  and  ruin :  but  there  are  still  in  that 
other  better  world  of  contemplation  and  devotion, 
which  affords  them  all  the  pleasures  and  improvements 
of  the  mind,  and  is  preparatory  to  a  state  of  uninter^ 
rupted  felicity. 

39 


306  0N  THE  NATURAL  EVIDENCES,  &c. 

Let  us  then,  finally,  give  thanks  to  him,  who  to  the 
light  of  his  Gospel  hath  added  this  light  of  nature,  and 
opened  the  wonderful  volume  of  the  creation  before  us 
for  the  confirmation  of  his  truth,  and  the  illumination 
of  his  people ;  that  we  may  thence  know  and  see  the 
certainty  of  these  things  wherein  we  have  been  instruct- 
ed. As  all  his  works  are  for  our  good,  let  it  be  our 
study  and  our  wisdom  to  turn  them  all  to  his  glory. 


FINIS. 


DATE  DUE 

trrr^Tf 

r 

CAYLORO 

'HINTED  IN  <J    5   A. 

